Iron Dragon Asta
by Jss2141
Summary: When a normal boy in a magic filled world fails to receive a grimoire, he stumbles a magic long thought to be lost. The magic of a dragon. I do not own Black Clover or Fairy Tail.
1. The Gift of Magic

In a world where magic is law, you must have it to make something of yourself, to be a someone in a world of wizards, quests, and amazement. But that cannot be said for our hero, who is currently hanging upside down from a tree in a forest. Asta, who is the only known person to not be able to use magic, is bummed out due to not receiving a grimoire from the town ceremony and his dream of becoming the wizard king seem to be lost. However, Asta was never one to give up and vowed he would become a wizard, not matter how long it took. Little did he know, his wish was going to come true sooner than he thought. He jumped from the tree and landed on a rock but as he landed, the rock slightly shifted to the left.

"What the?" Said Asta as he gets off the rock and moves it.

After moving the rock, Asta came face to face with a strange looking book with writing he'd never seen before.

"Whoa!" Said Asta as he picked it up "Is this a grimoire?"

He was silent for a moment until a giant grin grew on his face and he jumped for joy holding the book to his chest.

"YES! I can finally be a wizard!" Said Asta as he stops jumping for joy and holds fist in the air. "My way to being the wizard king begins now!"

After his excitement subsided, he sat on the ground and opened the book but saw the pages were blank, Asta flipped threw the book until he came to the last page. It had a strange circular symbol with what looked like a dragon in the center.

"A dragon?" He said.

He reached for the symbol and touched it, causing a bright light to come from book. The dragon symbol flew out of the book and enlarged before placing itself above Asta.

Asta stood up and looks up to the symbol saying, "What the hell?!"

The dragon symbol then fires a beam of energy into Asta, filling him with magical energy. The symbol had also filled Asta's head with it's name and the techniques that came with it.

"Iron Dragon Slayer Magic." Whispered Asta.

The beam stopped and the symbol dispersed, along with the book turning to dust and blowing away with the wind. Asta stood in silence, absorbing all that had been put into his mind and body. He raises his hand and formed the symbol from the book, with a confident grin and his unwavering determination, Asta threw his right hand out and screamed,

 **"Iron Dragon Sword!"**

From his forearm, appeared a large, spiked iron blade that shined in the light of the setting sun. Asta simply moves his arm around before turning to a tree. He smirked as he ran to the gave a mighty slash!

"RRRAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" He screamed as he sliced the tree.

The tree was cut through it's base and feel to the ground, and Asta's arm returned to normal. As Asta was about to celebrate, he heard a scream from the town and ran to investigate.


	2. Display of Power

Asta ran as fast as he could to get to where the scream originated and was nearing a cliff, he jumped and saw that his fellow orphaned "brother" Yuno and two others were restricted by chains conjured by a nasty looking wizard by the name Lebuty. Asta then slams into a wall and falls to the ground, quickly fixing himself as he got up.

"What the hell's going on here?!" Said Asta.

He points to a man restrained to a wall and turns his sights to Lebuty, who is holding Yuno's grimoire, the legendary 4 leaf clover that was possessed by the previous Wizard King.

"Oh, look it's the said little boy who never got a grimoire." Said Lebuty.

"Yeah, you're right but the only place a grimoire belongs is it's chosen master! Now give that back to Yuno!" Demanded Asta.

Lebuty just laughed sisterly from this demand.

"And what are you gonna do if I don't? You don't have a grimoire and I can tell that you can't use magic at all, so what are you gonna do about it?" He said.

Asta looked down and his hair covers his eyes.

"You're right, I don't have a grimoire." He cracked a smile and lifts his head. "But you're wrong about one thing, I can use magic!"

Yuno is surprised by this comment, as he grew up with Asta and knows he was never able to use magic before but wonder why he is saying this know. Was it a fake out or did he finally gain the ability to do so?

"Oh, really? And what kind of magic can you use?" Asked Lebuty.

Asta's smile widened to show teeth and said, "The magic of the Iron Dragon!"

The captives and Lebuty flinch at this accusation since they have never heard of such magic. Lebuty then gives a loud laugh at the boy, thinking he is bluffing.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! What a bunch of lies, there's no such thing as dragon magic! Especially, "Iron " Dragon Magic! Ahahahahahaha!" Screamed Lebuty

Asta lost his smile and growls in anger. "Oh yeah?" He said as a magic circle appears under him, glowing. "How about I show you then?! **Iron Dragon Scales!"**

Yuna, Lebuty, and the other two watch in surprise as a light shines under Asta and his skin is turning into what appear to be metal scales.

"Get ready, you waste of space!" Said Asta while getting into a fighting stance.

"What?! Impossible!" Screamed Lebuty in shock.

"Asta..." Said Yuno in surprise.

"Here I come," Asta said as he crouched down and reals right fist back. **"** **Iron Dragon!"** Asta dashed to Lebuty at high speed.

Lebuty was caught off guard by the speed and didn't have time to react as Asta delivers his fist into his stomach.

 **"Hard Fist!"** Screamed Asta.

Lebuty spits up bile as he release his clutch on the 4 leaf clover grimoire and is sent flying into the wall where one of the others are trapped. The dust clear, Lebuty is embedded into the wall, unconscious. The chains holding them then vanish as Asta's skin return to normal. Asta then picks up Yuno's grimoire and brings it to him.

"Here." Asta said as he smirks and handed Yuno his grimoire. "Try not to lost this."

Yuno takes his grimoire and smiles. "I guess this is the second time you saved me. I'll have to repay you for this." He said.

Asta just waved his hand from this while saying, "Don't mention it." He then turns around to walk back to town.

"Asta." Said Yuno.

Asta stops his walk and turns back to Yuno.

Yuno then proceeded talking, "Do you remember our promise?"

He then thinks back to when they were kids and he saved Yuno, from that day they both vowed to become the Wizard King and become rivals.

Asta smiled from this, "Yeah, I remember. So you better watch you back!" He pumped his right hand in the air. "Cause now that I got magic, I'm gonna be the Wizard King for sure!"

Yuno smiled as he walks back to town saying, "We'll see".

Asta then turns around and they both walk back home, ready to face whatever challenges the world holds for them.


	3. Showing Off

**Kamencolin: Yes, it should.**

 **jordonwiles99: Thank you.**

Asta and Yuno walked back to their church home in silence, wondering how their lives will be after what just happened. They arrive back at the church and see the nun that had raised them since they were orphaned there, Sister Lily, bringing in the laundry as it was done drying from the hanged wire. Sister Lily caught them in the corner of her eyes and turned to them with a smile on her face.

S. Lily said, "Hello, boys. It's go to see you both are back. I heard a scream and was worried something happened to you two."

Yuno waves to her and said, "Hello, Sister. And don't worry we're fine." He then turned his head to his orphan brother. "Thanks to Asta."

S. Lily turns her head to Asta with curiosity, "How come?"

Asta grins and says, "You're not gonna believe it but when you hear it you're gonna freak!"

"Who's gonna freak?" Said an new voice.

The three turn their heads to see Father, of Asta and Yuno and the church, come around the corner with 4 other orphan children. A little boy with blonde hair, a little girl with black hair, pre-teen with green spike hair, and a teenage girl with a red afro. (kids from Episode 1)

Over the course of the next few minutes, Asta told all of them how he found a mystrious book and gained a form of unknown magic with a strange name. They almost didn't belive him until he said he'd give a demonstration. Asta had gone to the wood chopping stump and placed a log on the top of it. He then took a few stepped back as his orphan family stood to the side, watching. Asta grinned as threw his arm out and a magic circle appeared.

 **"Iron Dragon Lance!"** Asta shouted.

Everyone to the side gasped as Asta's arm was replaced with a giant, metal spearhead.

 **"Demon Logs!"** Asta screams.

Asta then stabbed the air multiple times as what appeared to be projectiles launched at the standing log for about 3 seconds. When Asta ceased his attack, his arm turned back to normal and the log was cracking until pieces fell off to show it was now carved into the shape of a cross. Feeling prideful from his presentation, he turn to them with a smile on his face and gave a thumbs up.

"How was that?!" He said as he chuckles a bit.

The group just stood in silence from the display with their dropped. Unable to comprehend that Asta, a boy who lived his whole life without magic, displayed amazing, magical power.

Asta was still grinning as he continued, "Not enough, huh? Then how about this, then!?"

Asta looks towards the sky and takes a deep breath, so deep that his audience can actually see the air rushing into his mouth. As his check were puff, Asta gave a might cry.

 **"Iron Dragon Roar!"**

In that moment, a powerful, dark gray tornado flew from Asta's mouth and into the sky. The force from the blast was pushing them back as the roar could be seen from the neighboring farmers. After a 5 second attack, the tornado diminished, allowing Asta wiped his mouth and turn to the others.

Asta then said, "If that ain't magic, I don't know what is!" His grin grew wider.

"Amazing." Said Father.

"Yeah." Said S. Lily as she agreed.

The other children just keep quiet with their mouths still opened with wide eyes and Yuno just smiled proudly.

Asta said while pointing to them, "With the magic of the Iron Dragon flowing through my veins, I'll become the Wizard King in no time!

And so, with the residents of his home knowing of his new, magical abilities, the next page of Asta's new found strength shall be written.


	4. The Next Step

**The Big Pickle: The magics syncs perfectly with all the trained he put his body through.**

 **Kamencolin: Let's hope.**

 **Guest 1: Yep.**

 **Guest 2: I fixed that, and fixing it with the rest of my stories.**

 **Guest 3: -_-, Never say that again.**

 **Guest 4: Thank you.**

Time has past since Asta was bestowed the power of Iron Dragon Magic and he is still working his body hard to become the great Wizard King he wants to be. We now catch our hero training under the giant demon skull that lies in his town.

"997, 998, 999," says Asta as he is bashing a column like bone with his right arm then his left arm, both as metal columns **.** He stops punching the column and returns his arms to normal, taking a short break. He proceeds to reach into his pocket and pulls out some magic boosting juice, which tasted disgusting, and some iron nails. He also learned that in order to aid in restoring his magical power, he had to eat certain amounts of iron, which surprisingly didn't hurt when he first tried it but it did freak out his family a bit when they saw him do it. Took forever to calm then down to explain.

"Bottoms up!" said Asta as he throws the nails into his mouth, chewing them before taking a swing of boosting juice. He grimaced at the taste before taking more nails out of his pockets and repeating the magic boosting process. Asta then lays on his back while extending his arm up, covering his fingers in iron scales and smiling.

"Magic, I got me some magic." he said as he got up from his break. "With this power backing me up, I'm gonna kick major ass!" he shouted as he got back up, slamming his right fist into his open left hand. He looked towards to column and grinned. "Back to work. **Iron Dragon Club!** " He shouted as he pulled his right arm back as it turned into the same metal column as before.

"1000!" Asta yelled as he bashed the bone column, causing cracks to form. "Yuno's probably training just as hard as I am, so I gotta work even harder!" he said as he turned his left arm into another **Iron Dragon Club** and striking the column.

Both Asta and Yuno were training for the Magic Knight Entrance Exam being held in the capital of the clover kingdom, they had six months to further sharpen their skills so they could become a part of a knight squads. All the while, neither of them were letting go of their dream.

Meanwhile at the hall of grimoires, Father of the church and Sister Lily meeting with wizard in charge of it. The father was curious as to why Asta should take the exam, given that he has only just gained the ability to use magic. The wizard simply stated that that Asta insisted and there was nothing he could do before teasing Father that he would miss Asta, seeing as how he raised him and Yuno. The father started to deny as Sister Lily agreed, saying that Asta will fail anyway and the other orphans will miss him. Sister Lily understood his worries but said to give them a chance on their own, let them face the world's challenges with their own strength and carve their own path. The wizard agreed with Lily before saying Asta will fail and come right back, which Father supported without a second thought before moving to a new topic.

"So, what's with that magic Asta's using?" Father said, curious to this new and unheard of magic. "It seems so unlikely that he would gain such a powerful and mysterious magic."

"No idea, there's demon magic but there has never been any records of dragon magic" said the wizard. "Perhaps it was a magic someone discovered but never brought it to public eyes."

The wizard then turns to the window and thinks of the future, of what will unfold with Asta and his new dragon magic. And speaking of Asta, he is currently running home with all his might from his training in the skull.

"The moment I reach the church is the moment I rest!" He shouted as he ran past Yuno, who was carried an enormous amount of chopped fire wood using magic.

Yuno saw his orphan brother running and decides to turn it into a race, now they're both running with all their might as the gate to the church comes up. They were neck and neck until Asta used the **Iron Dragon Club** to replace his left foot and spring to the finish. Asta celebrated his victory until the other said he cheated.

"I did not!" Asta yelled.

Night soon fell and everyone got some sleep before morning came again as Asta is training under the monster skull once more. Asta is standing before another bone column with a target painted on it.

 **"Iron Dragon Kunai!"** he said as pointed knifves appears in his hands. He then throws them at the target, striking all over it but new in the bullseye. He grumbles before making more for another try but then he hears something behind, Asta turns around and sees it's one of his friends from the church, the boy with the brown, spiky hair.

"Oh Nash, what's up?" Asta said as the boy walks closer.

"Nothing much, I was bored and decided to come watch an idiot do something stupid." Nash said harshly.

The two then argued back and forth, talking about the exam and how Asta plans to pass it.

"You just got magic and compared to the rest of the world, you have little experience using it." Nash said as he look away. "You'll never pass."

"Don't worry, I got this." Asta said as he turn his hand into the **Iron Dragon Sword.** "I've got magic now and I'll get into a squad for sure. And then I'll-"

"No you won't!"Nash yelled interrupting him. He then explained how his dreams didn't matter for them because they were poor. After that, Asta approached him and cocked his fist back before slamming it into Nash's head!

"OW! What was that for?!" Nash yelled as he clenched his head.

"To knock some sense into you," retorted Asta before continuing "it doesn't matter if you're poor or not, nothing can stop you from making your dream come true if you believe you can!"

Nash was about to reply until he saw the spikes on sword that replaced Asta's hand spin wildly before he charged at the column and sliced through it multiple times. Asta stood proud in the sunlight as his arm returned to normal, looking back to a surprised Nash with a smile on his face. Later that night, a feast of many potato dishes were scatter across the church dinner table. It was a celebration for Asta and Yuno (mostly Yuno) before they set of for the capital.


	5. The Capital

**Kamencolin: Yeah, lets!**

 **ShadowXZ2: Thank you.**

 **Guest 1: Maybe.**

 **Nuclear Kimchi: I guess we'll see.**

 **Guest 2: Maybe but I guess we'll never now.**

The next morning, Asta and Yuno were packed and ready for their journey to the capital. Their family said what they wanted and the two left but not before Nash said that if Asta got into the Royal Knights, he would believe that dream can come true.

-Timeskip-

After several months of surviving and further training with their magic, the two of them arrived in the bustling capital where everyone was busy doing one thing or the other. The two looked around and found the stadium where the entrance exam was placed. They approached a man with a brown cloak placing his hand on grimoires and giving contestant numbers.

"You're number is 163." he said to a man before the guy left. "Well, next?"

Yuno apporached the man and said, "Name's Yuno from Hage."

The man then asked for his grimoire, which he was surprised was the 4 leaf clover. He placed his hand on it and said, "You're number 164."

Yuno then left as Asta approached the man.

"I'm Asta, I'm from Hage too!" he said excitedly.

"Please show me your grimoire" the man said.

Asta then froze when he realized that he didn't have one and hoped the guy would let him go by.

"Uh, actually I don't have a grimoire." Asta said as sweat dropped until he smiled. "But I have something better!"

"Oh? And what would that be?" the man asked.

"Iron Dragon Magic!" Asta said as he turned his arm into the **Iron Dragon Sword.**

The man was taken back in slight fear and decided to let Asta pass while gave him the number 164. Asta ran off the the testing area, where birds were swarming around everywhere but not one came to him. As he walked, his attention was so focused on the birds so Asta didn't see that he bumped into someone. He immediately thought that this was a bigger person of the same age and apologized. However, the person then started squeezing Asta head, counting down from 10 and saying that Asta was going to die. Asta was then going into a panic and tried to remove the man's hand as he continued to count down.

"7, 6, 5, 4,-" said the man.

Asta then reeled his right arm back and formed a magic circle, drawing everyone's attention. With a thunderous voice, Asta said,

"LET GO OF ME!"

He then threw his arm out as it became the **Iron Dragon Club** and smashed the man in the stomach as the man released his hand and pushed him back 2 feet. Everyone was surprised by this and started whispering, saying that he was either really stupid or really brave. They said the man's name was Yami Sukehiro and that he was a force to be reckoned with. Everyone expected the man to kill Asta but instead, he walked away and said,

"Not bad but you better pass or I will kill you next time."

This left everyone shocked and left Asta confused but he shrugged it off. Moments later, fireworks went off and the captains of all the squads came out and took their seats, after that the exam commenced. The first test was trying to fly on a magic broom, which Asta failed at but some of the other tests went by with out a problem.

In the power test, applicants had to hit a small brick wall with their magic, Asta passed by raising his left leg and throwing another **Iron Dragon Club** and smashed the wall to pieces which gained everyone attention. The next test was control, where they had to balance a piece of paper in the air, Asta used his **Iron Dragon Spear** to use wind to blow the paper up and keep it their using more thrusts. The nex test was creation, where the dragon slayer formed several **Iron Dragon Kunais** and held them in between his fingers in both hands. Next came evolution, here they had to pour their power into a seed, Asta place the seed in his hand and pour his magic into it causing it to grow into the shape of a metal dragon. The final test was a combat portion, where they would pair up and duel. Knowing his abilities, Asta knew that he would pass this test with flying colors. He was about to look for Yuno to fight until someone by the name of Sekke grabbed his shoulder and said he would spare with him.

As the first bout was called, Asta ran and his partner followed, but before they got started Sekke came into his ear and whispered,

"I admit you've been pretty good but let's face it, you have no chance against me. And when I'm chosen, I'm going to ride it for all that comes with it. So let's get this done so you and run back home."

This infuriated Asta as Sekke walked to his position. As the referee said for the fight to begin, Sekke got to works and summoned his magic. He formed a blue dome around himself with cannons located all around it while still having that smug smile on his face. Asta saw this and remembered a special spell of his Iron Dragon Magic but the price was a great amount of magical energy. He shock off the concern and took a deep breath before crouching down.

"Get ready, Sekke! Cause I'm about to blow your mind!" Asta said with a smile.

This statement confused everyone as Asta jumped into high into the air. A magic circle then formed under him as he started to fall towards Sekke.

 **"Dragon Slayer Secret Art! Karma Demon Iron Spiral!"**

After those words were bellowed, Asta spun his legs as he went throw the magic circle and became a drill spiraling towards Sekke's dome. The drill made contact with it and the dome started to crack.

"What?!" Sekke shouted as the dome gave and Asta came crashing through.

Dust and dirt filled the air as everyone was watching with interest while two people, Yuno and Yami, smiled at the display Asta gave. When to dust, Sekke was on the ground and quivering in fear as Asta stood above him, looking down at him while breathing heavily.

"Let me make on thing clear. We both may be here to trying out for a spot in a Magic Knight Squad but my reason is completely different from yours." He said as he covered his left arm in iron scales. "And that is to become the Wizard King! So, don't you forget it!"

He then brought his fist down to Sekke and smashed it into the ground next to his head. The fear of such a close collision was so great that Sekke pasted out and foamed a bit from the mouth. Asta then removed his fist and changed it back to normal and walked away, leaving everyone in shock.


	6. The Squad

**flo4563: Thank you and it may be possible if he comes in contact with any demon magic and eats it.**

The battle between Asta and Sekke has come to an end as the people around him were whispering to themselves about what they just saw, how a kid from a town in the middle of nowhere just won the combat part of the exam in less than a minute. Asta heard what they were saying and grew a smile on his face, having made a giant impression that his claim to become the wizard king was back up. The Knight Squad captains stared at him as he walked away, each with their own thought of the boy and his strange magic.

"So, this kid thinks he's gonna be the Wizard King, huh?" Yami thought as he was watching Asta walk away. A small mile then grew on his face as he thought, "We got an odd duck here, an interesting odd duck."

The combat phase of the exam continued as match after match was down and winner's were decided. The two high light matches of the day was the battle between 2 different nobles and the battle between Yuno and a snotty noble that kept saying that Yuno would lose, however the outcome was the exact opposite and the noble got his big nosed butt handed to him. The battles ended as the winners all gathered to here the captains speak of how a person would be getting into a squad; they would have their number called and a captain would raise their hand if they want him or her in their squad and if they got multiple hands, the person would pick a squad but if the person got no hands, then they would not become a knight and would leave the colosseum. Many people grew nervous from this, including Asta. Even though he aced most of the exam, the captains might have been looking for something more than just brute strength and power. And thus the picking began.

"Number 1, step forward." a voice called.

A random man stepped forward and looked up to the captains but to his disappointment, not one raised a hand. The man left as the picking for squads continued.

"Number 71, the Purple Orcas."

"Number 78, the Crimson Lion Kings."

"Number 99, the Coral Peacocks."

As the number kept going up, Asta grew more nervous.

"Oh man, this is intense. But I gotta stay calm, I know at least one of them will pick me." He thought as he went back to listening to the results.

The number kept going and finally, it was Yuno's turn.

"Next up, Number 164."

Yuno grabbed his necklace and said, "Here" while thinking, "This is it."

The four leaf clover mage walked up as Asta looked at him with curiosity and worry for his results. As Yuno came to a halt, something incredible and unbelievable happened, all the captains raised their hands for Yuno. This caused everyone to chatter about how amazing it was and how it was impossible to get into some of the captains' squads. Asta was flabbergasted but happy for him, expecting no less from his adoptive brother and rival. Yuno remained silent as he thought of which squad would be the best for reaching his goal and he when he made up his mind, he joined the Golden Dawn and it's captain, William Vangeance.

"Next, Number 165."

Asta swallow his saliva and walked forward, ready for the hand that fate would deal him. He came to a stopped and looked up to the captains, seeing none of them raise their hands. He was shocked, feeling his dream being crushed until the person her stuck before the exam began, Yami Sukehiro jump down in front of him.

"Well, I'll tell you this kid, you surprised me but, do you really think you can become the Wizard King with that weird magic you have?" he said as he suddenly surrounded himself in a cloak of purple, ominous magic.

The ground started to shake as everyone was beginning to panic from it as Yami continued to talk, demeaning Asta's reason for wanting to become a Magic Knight and his dream for a full minute until he asked one final question.

"Do you really believe you're strong enough to become the Wizard King?"

The question shocked Asta as he steeled his nerves and looked Yami in the eye as he gave his answer.

"Maybe I won't get into a Knight Squad today and maybe my dream is a too out of my reach. But no matter how much I stumble, no matter what life throws at me, I'll face it head on and I will become the Wizard King!" As Asta finished, a magic circle appeared under him and gave off a shining light around him.

The power the two gave off shook the colosseum even more as they glared at each other. Eventually, Yami ceased his release of magical energy and stared as Asta ceased his as well. The captain then started laugh, saying that he liked Asta, and offered him a place on his squad, the Black Bulls. Though, Yami said he had no choice and that they would break him down a rebuild him into a person who will become the Wizard King. Asta was glad and accepted but he was a feared for his future, though he let that go in less that a few seconds.

-Timeskip, hour later-

The exam picking have come to an end and the one who weren't picked, left for home and hoped for next year. Asta meet up with Yuno, to officially start the next start of stage of their rivalry but this was halted due to a need to use the bathroom after Asta ate something snake related earlier. He dashed to the bathroom and into a stall, completely unaware of Sekke sneaking in with a lust for revenge from the battle they had. He walked in and cast a curse spell in the form of a lizard, thinking that Asta will be lucky to survive the bite and just be bed ridden instead of dead. The curse was making it's way to the stall until it was stopped by an magic falcon made of winds.

Sekke was surprised by this and looked to see Yuno with scary look on his face. He tried to play it cool and say it was just a joke but Yuno knew he was lying. Sekke continued until Yuno told him to beat it, which he didn't think twice about as he casually and nervously left. Asta exited the bathroom with a face of relief as he made his way to Yami, with Yuno walking the opposite direction to his new captain, William. Asta arrived to meet Yami, who wasn't happy with Asta making him wait.

After yet another grab to crush Asta's skull and one of his new friends, Finral, making a portal to the Bull's base, Asta is now standing in front of it with eyes of wonder. So far, his start to being the Wizard King was looking great and nothing could ruin it, until he opened the door and got knocked back with a fire attack.

Yami then turned to where Asta and said to him with a smile, "Welcome to the worst of the worst of the Magic Knight Squads, the Black Bulls."


	7. Introductions and Test

**Atarya QueenofEgypt: Thanks and no, William's name is exactly as the anime put it. The fact that it's stunning close to the word "vengeance" could be the creator's intention.**

 **papapryce: Thanks and I'll try.**

Our story picks up from where Asta was thrown away from the door by a random fire blast and the entrance of the Black Bull's base is blocked by a fence of fire. Our hero picks himself up and shakes off the dirt on his face and clothes before turning towards the door again.

"I'm not down yet!" he screamed.

Asta ran towards the fire fence in hopes of getting into the base until another blast of fire came through but Asta was ready this time.

 **"Iron Dragon Scales!"** he shouted as iron scales covered his body.

Asta jumped towards the blast as he reared his fist back, he then punched through the fire attack and skid to a stop as he looked inside the base to a strange sight. A man with shades holding a club made of fire was launching fire balls at a young boy with light green hair who was using magic on his boots to float and dodge the fireballs while laughing to his hearts content. Asta looked around at the other members and they were just as strange as the first two. The first was a woman who was holding her head and saying something about too many drinks, a young child looking girl eating from a pile of pastries, a man with a nose bleed saying something creepy about his younger sister named Marie, and a behemoth with a shadow cast over his face and red beady eye. It was safe to say that this is exactly as Yami described it, this was the worst of the worst Magic Knight Squads.

"Looks like they're at it again." Finral said with a bead of sweat near his forehead.

Asta was a bit nervous and a bit scared from what he was seeing but he steeled his nerves as he dispelled his scales and shouted his introduction.

"My name is Asta! I'm from Hage village and I'm a Black Bull now but someday, I'm gonna be the Wizard King!"

It would've been good start if not for the fact the no one was listening to him. He turned white as snow and couldn't react fast enough to yet another fireball knocking him down to the ground.

"Should've keep my scales up" Asta mumble as he got off the ground.

The squad shenanigans continued until Yami had enough and struck the wall while saying to stop breaking stuff, even though he just destroyed the wall he just hit. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to the destroyed wall, instantly running toward their captain and over Asta, completely ignoring him. They swarmed Yami with questions and remarks that put a smile on the man's face until he told them to be quite, causing them to instantly sit and listen like young children.

"Alright, I'd like you all to meet our other new memeber." Yami started as he looked for Asta, who was being sat on by the red beady eyes behemoth.

Yami thought Asta was messing around and told him to get up, which he did after a quick pass out. Asta was now standing next to the captain as he gave his introduction once again.

"My name is Asta and I am from Hage village! It's nice to meet all of you!" He shouted.

The one with shades asked, "Isn't that place in the middle of no where?"

Yami ignored the question and said, "Hey, Finral, introduce everyone one, will ya?"

Finral nodded and started to introduce everyone currently in the Black Bulls, "This is Gordon Agrippa." He said as he waved his arm to the man with a white face and black eyes and lips who mumbled a greeting.

"Not the easiest person to talk to but he's good people." Finral then turned to the woman in her underwear.

"Next, we have Vanessa Enoteca. Picks fights when she's drunk but she's good people."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Vanessa said, denying the claims of fighting while drunk.

She then turned to Asta and complimented him on rising up from being in a small village to joining a magic knight squad. Asta was blushing like crazy with blood coming from his nose as Vanessa was saying something about a reward for him. While Asta was trying to stay true towards the (one sided) love he had for Sister Lily, Vanessa vomited in front of him as he jumped back in surprise and disgust. The introductions continued as the boy with light green hair stood up and raised his had, saying he wants to be next to be introduced.

Finral complied and said, "Luck Voltia, a battle freak who loves fighting but he's good people."

"Luck smiled and greeted Asta befoe getting close and asking to fight Asta, who was a bit cautious of Luck's straight-forwardness when it comes to battle.

Asta's attention was turned to a picture of a young girl being held up by the guy who was, and currently is now, having a nose bleed.

"See her? This is my sister, Marie, she an angel" the man said.

"Yeah?" Asta replied.

The man put the photo down and said, "Listen, if you lay a finger on her, you die!" He finished as he got in Asta's with a scary looks.

Asta was quivering from this and said, "WHAT?!"

"Gauche Adlai, loves his siter a bit much but he's good people" Finral said.

"This is Charmy Pappitson, big eater but good people!" Finral said as said girl was snacking on a muffin.

"Nice to meet ya!" she said with her mouth full.

Asta smiled at the girl with food in her mouth until the giant man that sat on him before stood over him.

"And this is Grey, I don't really get him but he's good people." Finral said as Grey mumble something with smoke coming out of his mouth.

"Hi." Asta said as he was still scared to the big person before him.

"And then there's Magna Swing, street punk but good people." Finral said as Magna growled at Asta.

Finral then pointed to himself and said, "And I'm Finral Roulacase, lady killer. And finally, our fearless leader, Yami Sukehiro" he finished as he waved his arm to the captain.

Once introductions was out of the way, Yami told them to get to work on Asta but not go overborad. This leads to everyone being outside, while the hold in the base was being repaired. All the members where watching as Asta and Magna stood away from each other while Magna was holding a brown cloak.

"You want this robe, village boy?! Then you're gonna have to earn it by doing everything I tell you to, got it?!" Magan shouted

Asta agreed as the rest of the group seemed uninterested. From then on, Magan told Asta to do various physical works with no magic. Once the workout was done, Manga moved on to the most important part, the magic portion where Asta had defend or dodge Magna's fire magic attacks to pass his little test.

"Okay, grab your Grimoire and get ready!" Magna shouted.

Asta flinched at bthis request but grew a smirk on his face.

"Sorry, I don't have a grimoire but I don't need one the win this!" he said.

The group, except Yami, was thrown off by this claim but reclaimed themselves as Asta got into a fighting position.

Magna scoffs at this and says, "Whatever kid but you better get ready!"

Magna then pulled a flaming club out of his grimoire and started swing fireballs towards Asta at fast speed. Asta dodge the attack and stood tall as Magna watched.

"Not bad but the real battle begins now." Magna said as he summoned a fireball the was radiating with heat.

The fireball expanded before compressing into a hand held shape as Magna grabbed it as he was winding up for a throw.

 **"Flame Magic! Exploding Fireball!** Now die!" he said as he threw it.

The attack was heading straight for Asta as he expanded his checks.

 **"Iron Dragon Roar!"** he bellowed as he blasted a gray tornado from his mouth.

The fireball and tornado attack closed in on each other as they clashed in a cloud of smoke until the tornado attack come out and literally blew Magna away and into the forest behind him. The rest of the group saw this and were impress by Asta's magical power, even if her lacked a grimoire.

Luck was amazed by this and said, "He did it, he did it."

"I have to say, that was impressive." Vanessa said as Charmy laughed in excitement.

Finral saw this and said, "That's the first time in a while a newbie has displayed that kind of fire power."

Yami just stared at the display as Asta was smiling from his move but instantly worried he killed Magna from the way several trees were broken from his attack. Magna then pulled himself up from behind a tree and started walking to Asta.

"What the hell, you crazy runt? If I hadn't able to counter that, I could've been in worst shaped." he said as Asta was relieved and a little scared.

Magna kept moving to Asta and grabbed his shoulders before giving a bright smile and congratulating him on the attack he gave. He then admitted he was from a village even further out than Asta's home and apologized for the insults earlier. Soon, the entire group came and gave their congratulations to the Iron Dragon Slayer as he was handed a Black Bull robe but they were all unaware of a girl with blue hair tied in pigtails watching from a balcony on the base.

"So, that's the other new recruit. Not bad, for an insect." she said as she pulled her her back.


	8. The Fellow Rookie

**Kamemcolin and Guest 1: To answer both of you, I'm following the english dub anime.**

 **NullSilver2005: Thanks, I appreciate your kindness.**

 **Guest 2: That does sound interesting but I don't want to overload myself.**

After getting his own room and sending a letter home, Asta rose with the morning sun shining bright into his room. He look at his earned robe then to his hand, which he gripped in determination from taking another step to making his dream a reality. He got up and dressed to start his day as a official member of the black bulls, ready to take on anything but his excitement was diminished when he ran face first into a stone column. His fellow member and superior, Magna, came and greeted Asta.

"Morning , newbie." he said with a smile.

"Uh, morning but hey, was this pillar here before? Cause I don't remeber it being here." Asta said after he removed his face and scratched the back of his head.

Magna simply laughed a bit at Asta and said, "Yeah, it wasn't there before but don't worry. The base switches thinks are every now and then."

Asta then mumble, "Oh, I thought something was strange about this place.

After the situation with the pillar and the news of the base shifting, Magna gave Asta the tour of the base. From the oversized dinning hall to the creepy beast dungeons underground, Asta was having a bit of fun with getting aquinted with the place and looking forward to making many memories here. The two loud mouths were now making there way outside but stopped in their tracks when they saw a blue haired girl walking back to the base, but unknown to both of them this was the same blue haired girl that watched Asta and Magna fight last night.

"Oh, yeah. It''s your fellow rookie, the other new member of the Black Bulls." Magna said.

Asta smiled at this and raised his hand to shake hers as he introduced himself. "I'm Asta from Hage Village. It's great to meet you. Let's give this all we've got."

The girl simply stared at Asta's hand for a few seconds before slapping it away.

"Don't speak to me in that tone. You may have interesting mana but you're still a little insect of commoner." she said.

Asta was thrown back by this and said, "Insect?!"

Magna was just a bit weirded out by this and said, "Commoner, really?"

The girl then placed her hand on her chest and said something Asta didn't expect, "My name is Noelle Silva of the royal Silva House."

Asta was shocked and started nerrvbously sweat. He then bowed several times and gave a sincere apology until he realize one key fact.

"Hey wait! Who are you calling an insect?! Doesn't matter if you're royalty, we joined the magic knights at the same time!" he said as he pointed to himself.

Magna agreeed with this and back him up, "Yeah that's right. Being royalty doesn't matter here.!"

Noelle simply keep a straight face and said, "Yes, it does."

This action enraged both Asta and Magna as they got in her face and shouted, "What makes you so sure?!"

Noelle grew tired of this and decided that words weren't enough to convince the two of them. She then said as she raised her hand, "The difference in our magic power. Plain and simple."

A blue orb of energy then appeared around her hand and gave off a light the lite up the hallway. Asta and Magna back away in slight fear of the attack to come as Noelle started to speak again.

"Don't forget your place again!" She said as she fired a water attack.

Asta was quick to react to the attack approaching him and summon the **Iron Dragon Sword.** He sliced through the attack and it diverted to both sides of him but unfortunatly for Magna, he got hit the one half of the water attack. Noelle turn to he side as Magna got up from the ground, saying that the girl was crazy for attacking a senior member but Noelle didn't seem to care, simply retorting that she was royalty. While this was going on, Asta was just completely confused from the argue until it lead to Noelle throwing off the Black Bull robe. She turned and walked away as Magna screamed,

"Hey! Get back here and apologize to the robe and Yami!"

Magna kept shouting for here to apologize as Asta stood like a statue and said, "I gave everything I had to get that robe and she just threw it on the ground."

Some time had passed since the departure of Noelle as Asta is now outside, even though his original intent was to find the base's bathroom. His attention was then turned to the sound of explosions and went to investiagte but what he saw was a surprise to him. Noelle was standing in a clearing with multiple craters lying around her and a tree with a target painted on it. She looked tired and conflicted as she kept trying to hit the tree while saying, "I'll keep try. I will find a way for you to accept me!"

Asta watched in sympathy as she kept trying, feeling the exact same way with having something to prove. He looked down towards his right hand as he said, "I guess we're more alike then I thought."

Deciding that spying was enough, Asta walked out and reviled himself to Noelle, who gained a look of fear.

"Hey." Asta said as he just stood there.

Noelle then started to recall all of the mockery and scorning she got from her inablility to use her magic right and started to form another water attack at Asta but instead, the attack started to consume her and carry Noelle into the air as it expanded. This gained the attention of everyone in the guild as they all came to see.

"Oh, my." Vanessa said.

"That magical power out of control." Gauche said, stating the obvious.

Yami came to the front of the group and said that they needed a way to save Noelle without hurting her, his answer then came when Asta came flying in from running away from the expanding sphere.

"Nice timing, kid." Yami said after he caught Asta. He then pointed to the out of control spell and added, "See that? Do something about it."

Asta agreed and was ready to help until her realized he had no way off getting about there until Yami gained a dark look and threw him. Asta was now screaming as he was approached the water prison. He brought both his arms forward and shouted,

 **"Iron Dragon Lance!"**

His arms became covered in iron and became a point at he approached the water. Asta shot and straight to Noelle, he lower his iron and grabbed her before a magic circle appearing under him. A light shine as he began to use the **Karma Demon** **Iron Spiral** to rocket out the bottom of the water prison, causing it to burst as Asta stopped spinning. Noelle then regain consciousness as she saw she was in Asta's arms as they both were falling to the ground. A portal then appear under them and they landed in front of the rest of the bulls, who were either celebrating what just happened or complaining. Asta set Noelle to the side as he stood up and complemented her on her magic power. Noelle was shocked by this and was then told that her weakness didn't matter, she was one of them and that was just fine.


	9. Shenanagins

**Amaterasu: It doesn't really matter, a dragon is a dragon.**

 **NullSilver2005: Thank you.**

 **papapryce: You'll love more of what's to come too.**

The morning sun rose as our dragon slayer was up and full of his usual energy, which was put to use in doing one of the most important things in life!... Cleaning. Althrough out the Black Bull base, Asta was putting everything he had into making sure the place looked spick and span, while doing his usual unnecessary yelling at the top of his lungs. He cleaned the hallway floors, dusted the library shelves (though honestly with this group misfits and weirdos, who would read a book like a normal, civilized person?), washed everyone's laundry, feed the beasts in the basement while trying to not get eaten by them, and trying and failing to wake up his captain, Yami. After he was done, something hit Asta that should've been obvious from the get go as he was hanging the laundry to dry on the base roof by clotheslines.

"How is this any from what I did at the church?! What the heck does a magic knight squad even do?!" he screamed.

The scene now changes to the dining hall where everyone in is having a delicious breakfast of the most important food group, meat. Which did not go unnoticed by the resident royalty known as Noelle, who was sitting next to Asta as they ate.

"Hey, Noelle, how come you didn't help with the cleaning?" Asta said as he turned away from his food.

Noelle was about to reply to his question until she saw a side of nails next to his steak.

"Um, why are nails next to your food?" she asked as it drew not only her's but everyone's attention.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you guys. I can replenish by magic power by eating my element, so whenever I eat, train, or travel, I always have some iron nails with me to help refuel my magic." Asta finished as he grabbed a few nails and threw them into his mouth, chewing them like their were like any other food.

His fellow members just stared in amazement as they could actually hear the nails grinding between his teeth. As Asta finished an swallow the nails, he remembered something important that he was meaning to ask.

"Oh, hey. Just wondering, what exactly does a magic knight squad do?" he asked to Magna.

Said man gasped as he got up and walked towards Asta, proceeding to drag him to the wall and shouting his answer.

"Are you serious?! We protect the country, protect the people! It's the manliest job in the world! Why did you join up if you're so clueless?!"

Asta tried to give his apology but it deaf ears as Magna was mocking him while doing so, drawing the attention of everyone in the dining hall, except Charmy who was focused on eating the food and Gaunche who was looking at a picture of his little sister. Noelle just looked around in confusion as Magna let go of Asta and shouted for anyone to tell Asta what a magic knight squad does. Each one gave their own answer to what the squad does, mainly protect the people, with added bonuses. Meeting attractive people, fighting without worries, and making your loved one proud. The list kept going until it was stopped by Charmy, who ran out of food to eat. She summoned by grimoire and shouted,

 **"Con Creation Magic! Bring out the sheep cooks!"**

In an instant, three sheeping standing like men appeared and started cooking a whole new batch of food for the small, glutton.

"The most important thing is that you can eat like crazy!" Charmy said as she ate to her hearts content.

The most normal answer came in the most interesting way when Grey walked behind Asta and Noelle and transformed into an exact duplicate of Asta!

"Well, it's just a really good job, I look forward to doing a mission together." he said with a smile on his clone face.

"Uh sure" Asta replied as Grey turned back into his original scary self and walked back to his food.

"Man, this place is full of some serious weirdos." Asta said under his breath.

Noelle agreed with Asta and thought about why she was here in this squad with such strange people.

"Well, runt, are you seeing what being in a magic knight squad is all about?!" Magna asked to Asta, who was having a honey glazed log of meat being shoved down his throat by Charmy.

Just then, Yami came busting, literaly by kicking the door down, into the dining hall where all the attention was now on him. He called for Magna to go on a mission and said nothing else. Asta got up and wanted to come along but was shot down when Magna said it wasn't for rookies. As each member gave their own goodbye, Noelle and Asta were having their own private thoughts.

'What am I even doing here?' Noelle thought.

'What kind of mission would make then act so serious?' Asta thought as he watched them leave.

About 3 hours later, Asta is now in the basement again for the feeding time for the beasts. He approaches with caution to feed them but end up in another attempt for the beasts to eat him. Noelle, who is present this time, just leans against the wall and watches at Asta struggles to get out of the beasts maw. The two then get into another argument until Asta got out of the beast's mouth again. Their attention was then turned to Yami and Magna coming back from their mission, with not clothes what so ever.

An hour later, after getting some cloths on and explaining that they were actually at a poker game, Asta, Noelle, and Magna were outside of the base. They were about to set off on a mission to deal with some wild boars near a place called Saussy Village. Though, they tried to deny the mission, Yami "convinced" them to take the mission. They were now standing in front of a tricked out broom stick that looked like a bull skeleton, that was named Crazy Cyclone. The reason they was only one broom was because Asta and Noelle couldn't ride a broom, so they had to share Magna's. While Asta thought the brook was cool, Noelle just thought it was lame. They had a tricky take off but got into the air where their trickiness only increased because Noelle knocked Asta off for trying to put his arms around her waste to keep from failing off. Once he was saved, the 3 made their way to complete their mission, unaware of the dangers that awaited them.


	10. Saussy Village

**Solartiger: OH YEAH!**

 **bulk Locke the grimm head: You got it.**

The first mission of Asta and Noelle starts in a forest where the boar where said to be located but there was 2 little, tiny details that was left out when they said they'd be boar hunting. And those tiny details were that they were 10 times the size of normal boar and that they were capable of using magic, having fire coming from their hooves and foreheads. It was a real challenege and this is wear we find Asta, who is currently face to face with a boar. Both were staring each other down and neither was moving until the other made a move.

"Alright, you crazy animal, let's see what you got! **Iron Dragon Scales!** " Asta shouted as iron scales covered his body.

He then gave a mighty roar as he charged at the boar and took it by the tusks, grappling with it. The boar pushed back with everything it had but Asta wasn't going to give up so easily. He shifted his weight and threw the boar to the right before jumping to it and slamming his fist into it. The boar recoiled but stayed strong as it charge head first to Asta again, who meet the head charge with his left fist. While the battle was going on, Noelle and Magna were watching from the distance as the fight spread from one end of the forest to the other.

"Uh, Magna, shouldn't we be helping him?" she asked out of curiosity while she was watching the impressive battle.

"I'm not doing anything until I've rested up a little. Getting you two out here took magic and muscle, a whole friggin lot of it." Magna said as he was laying against Crazy Cyclone with his arms behind his head.

Before Noelle could reply, Asta was thrown in the air by the boar with a look of anger on his face. "It's not over yet!" he yelled as he feel back towards the boar the blasted him into the air.

"Eh, it'll be okay. Rasta's a sturdy guy." Magna said with a small smile.

Noelle was still worried and said, "Yes, but.."

Magna bet her to the punch and countered, "If you're so worried ,why don't you go help him? You think I'll stop ya?"

Noelle just sighed in defeat and went to join Asta in dealing with the boar. She just came upon the sight of a scale covered Asta holding back the magic boar by the tusks with his own, iron covered arms. Noelle brought out her grimoire and focused her magic into a water blast.

"Here we go." she said before firing the water shot.

The blasted looked like it was about to hit it's target the boar, until it sweared towards Asta, throwing off his balance as he still held onto the tusks. The boar saw this as an opportunity and swung Asta off it's tusks while Magna laughed, enjoying Noelle's little failure and Asta being sent flying. Noelle, once again, put on her fancy face as Asta came back to finish the fight.

"I got you now! **Iron Dragon Clubs!** " He said before launching both arms forwards, transforming, and sending the iron clubs towards the boar.

The attack smashed into the boar's face, causing it reel back and fall to the ground into unconsciousness. Asta is now standing in triumph and breathing heavily as he lowered his spells.

"Finished him off." he said as Magna came up behind him.

"You got him, not bad runt." Magna said as he pointed to his right and sang a little song. "But the fun's not over yet!"

Asta turned his head in the direction where his superior was pointing and saw that rest of the magic boar hoard had arrived, all looking for a fight.

-Timeskip-

After what seemed like a war had come to an end, Asta, Noelle, and Magna are now caring all the defeated boars(Mostly Asta with Noelle not caring one) on a path towards Saussy Village, with Magna leading.

"Now, that's what I call good hunting!" Magna said.

"Noelle, who was behind Magna and in front of Asta, said, "Another display of you're freakish strength." referring to Asta, who replied it was child's play.

As they were walking to Saussy Village, Magna talked about his years when he first got his grimoire and causing trouble in Saussy with the chief, Seihi. Though, he never defeated Sei, he learned how to better control his magic and how to properly "be a man." In retrospect, Magna owed a lot to the old man that constantly beat him, even giving him the idea of joining the Magic Knight, which he gladly did. As Magna was continuing his story, he stopped and let the boar he'd been caring down as he ran towards Saussy Village, much to Asta and Noelle's confusion until they joined him. They saw the village was covered in a strange dome of mist.

"This place gets some strange weather." Asta idiotically said.

"It's not the weather, it's magic!" Noelle said correcting him.

"IT IS?!" Asta said, still small minded.

The trio approached the village and was wondering how they would be getting through the magical mist. It was in that moment, Asta's ears started to hear something, something coming from inside the mist.

"Hey, I hear something." he said to his friends.

"What? I don't hear anything." Magna said.

"Wait, is this something that has to do with you magic?" Noelle asked with curiosity.

"I guess so. My hearing must've been powered up when I got it." Asta said as he continued to hear something in the mist.

"If that's true, then lead the way, Rasta!" Magna said as he grabbed Asta and Noelle's wrists. "Follow the sound, it must be from the one who did this."

"Right!" Asta said with a nod.

And so, the knight of Black Bull went into the mist, having nothing to lead them but Asta's new sense of hearing. It was worrisome at first but over time, they knew he knew what he was doing as they, not only started to hear something, but feel something as well.

"You feel that?" Magna asked Noelle.

"Yeah, it's magic and it's strong." she said with a sweat.

They trio kept going as the mist started to clear but what they saw was something they didn't expect to see. The villagers were huddled together in fear as what appeared to be ice spikes floating above them.

"Kill them." a random voice said.

The ice spikes started to rain down on the villagers with intent to kill until Magna and Asta came running in, both shouting as they called out their attack.

 **"AAAAAAAHHHHH! Explosive Scatter Shot!"** Magna yelled as he threw a fire ball from his right hand into the air, where it split into multiple fire balls that started to destroy the ice spikes.

 **"Iron Dragon Kunai! Metal Storm!"** Asta yelled as he formed dozens of iron kunai and threw them to aid in stopping the ice spikes.

Explosions filled the air as the attacks clashed and destroyed each other. When the lights died down, Magna and Asta stood proud as Noelle walked up to join them. The villagers raised their heads and see that they were saved from the attack by a magic knight squad. The trio walk through the crowd and asked what was going on until they came across a sad sight, Seihi, the chief was dead. Sorrow filled the air as Magna turned his head towards a man with white hair, blue clothing, and a scar stretchering from the right side of his forehead to his left check. He also had three hooded comrades with him as he was sitting on a piece of a wall.

"Are you the one responsible!?" Magna shouted in anger.

The man just breathed out his nose and looked towards a pocket watch. "You've thrown off my schedule, I don't appreciate that." he said ignoring Magna's question. "Everyone here will die in the next 10 seconds."

The man then raised his right hand and summoned his grimoire, forming a massive block of ice and shot it towards the crowd and the knights. As Magna was worrying how he was going to stop it, Asta ran forward and jumped in front of the ice attack while summoning his scales.

 **"Iron Dragon Hard Fist!"** he yelled.

He brought his right fist forward and smashed into the giant block of ice, causing his magic circle to appear on it. With 3 seconds the ice started to shatter and broken apart, amazing the villagers, as Asta landed on his feet. He then looked towards the man who did it with hate and anger in his eyes.

"Why could you do something so horrible? Who do you think you are!" Asta said as he kept his scales up.

The man just exhaled as he stared at his pocket watch yet again and as his cohorts conversed on why magic knight were in the village. The man then said, "All this is wasting precious time. We will execute the villagers in a way befitting their status then find what we came for."

This answer didn't agree with Asta as he charged forward to attack but then one of the lackeys performed a spell named **Mist Magic Shroud Illusiory Mist,** creating more mist to block Asta's vision. This failed when Asta took a deep breath and fired the **Iron Dragon Roar** into the air, clearing the mist spell and avoiding the damage it would've caused the village. The man, know named Heath, stood up, talking about the realms were the classes live, Royal, Common, and Forsaken, saying that he's killing the villagers as a way of getting ride of the useless beasts wasting him time. This got Asta angrier as he kept bad mouthing the lower class people. Asta was insulted as he was from the same realm and said,

"You may think they're useless beasts but I'll do whatever I have to to protect them!" he said as he reared his right fist back.

While the villagers were surprised by his words, Heath was interested by his drive to protect them and summoned more ice projectiles to test Asta but while Asta was ready, the three robbed men with Heath started to fire more mist magic causing it to swarm around the crowd. Ice started to form in the air around them and ready to kill them.

 **"Ice and Mist Compound Magic: Endless Ice** **Cage.** Do you really think you can protect your herd of beasts like this?" Heath said as he attacked.

As Asta and Magna were doing their best to hold off the showers of ice attacks, Noelle was doubting how she could be off any help. She tried to attack but her attack didn't hit, thinking she was holding Asta and Magna back. She was thinking of leaving until a little girl begged her to help, giving her new conviction as her grimoire glowed brightly and she unless a massive spell the formed a water dome around the villagers, protecting them from the ice.

"I will protect them, I am royalty but what's more, I am a member of the Black Bulls!" Noelle said with confidence and determination.

With this new source of strength, can the three bulls win against the ice man, Heath, and his trio of mist users? Only fate will tell.

* * *

Side Notes

1\. Iron Dragon Kunai, Metal Storm is an OC attack.

2\. Idea for a Black Clover Crossover anyone can have,

Title: The Red Grimoire

Summary: When his dream slipping throw his fingers, Asta is heartbroken until red glow fills the hall of the Grimoire Ceremony as he looks up to see a book with circles and triangles on it floating towards him. With his new Grimoire in hand, can Asta become the Wizard King or will it be too much for him to handle.

Anime Xover with: Zatch Bell

Concept: Asta used Zatch's spell book and it's spells (fired from hand).


	11. Finishing the Job

**Ararya QueenofEgypt: Thanks.**

 **Solartiger: Thank you and they will.**

 **bulk Locke the grim head: Yes, they are.**

 **BanRedFox: Glad to see you're enjoying the story.**

Picking up where was left our heroes, they now stand before Heath inside of the giant water dome, **Water Creation Magic Sea Dragon's Lair** protecting them and the other villagers. The little girl that begged Noelle for help earlier was now staring at her in amazement as Noelle stood proud, bathing in the light of her grimoire.

"You're amazing." the little girl said.

Heath returned to his plan of killing them by launching more of his **Icy Fangs** at the protective water spell, only for his attacks to simply shatter against the water dome.

Noelle, now bursting with new confidence, says, "Well, no that wasn't so difficult after all."

Magna was ecstatic for this occurrence and congratulated his junior bull as Heath was contemplating on how she was capable of this spectacular feat.

"How can she have so much power?" he asked himself.

While all of this was happening Asta was watching silently, waiting for his chance to strike and while Heath was processing Noelle's boost in power, he rushed out of the protective dome and aimed for Heath. He thought back to what Heath told him, about how he had enough power to join the Magic Knights before admitting,

"I wasn't always like this. I didn't always have magic power but that doesn't matter!"

He then formed an iron club on his right arm and extended it, striking Heath in his chest.

"I'll still destroy you!" Asta finished.

Heath was pushed back as he spit up some blood, worrying his three accomplishes and earning a compliment from Magna.

"That's what I'm talking about!" he said.

Noelle was also happy but was still cautious. "Did that do it?"

Asta's face was transformed into curiosity as he saw Heath smile with blood on his lips, he quickly look down and saw that a patch of ice was right under his feet!

'The ice killed most of my momentum! My club still had some when I launched it but it wasn't enough!' Asta thought.

"That magic of yours is powerful but it can only do some much for someone who hasn't had magic that long." Heath said as he landed a distance away after the attack hit.

The villain's grimoire glowed as it's pages turned, preparing to launch another attack.

"Now it's my turn to take a jab at you!" he said as he launched his attack.

A giant nest of ice spike burst from the ground next to Heath and the longest one hit Asta right in the stomach, even though the iron scales still covering his body protected him from getting stabbed, the force of the hit was enough to send Asta into the air and cough up some blood. He hit the ground as the villagers and his friends look in fear. Heath walked past Asta, whose scales were fading, as he wiped blood from his mouth, looking at the dome of water.

"Now sleep. For all eternity." he said.

Heath made his way to the protective spell as he was thinking of a way to get through and kill the rest of the villagers.

"I should be able to create a hole big enough for one person to pass through," Heath said as he placed his hand on the water dome, slowly freezing it.

"This should take approximately 25 seconds." he said as he held the same pocket watch in his hand.

The ice user then went into another rant about the villagers being nothing but creatures wasting his time as the ice spread more and more. Magna was just watching and worrying, with his magic power low, he needed a way to beat this guy.

'I gotta beat this guy! I should have the upper hand with my fire magic but the difference in power is enough to flip that on it's head. Sorry, Yami but I think this is one fight I can't win!' he thought as he stared at Heath, still trying to think of a way to win.

His worries were put aside at the moment as he heard a familiar shout.

 **Iron Dragon Lance!"**

As the words we said, Asta came behind Heath with an iron spear head covering his right forearm.

"I'm not done yet!" he said.

Heath didn't even turn his had as the boy came to attack.

"Too late." he said as he summoned another giant ice spike to attack Asta, who barely blocked by holding the spear head sideways as he was launched in the air.

"So that last attack didn't kill you, huh? You're a tough little idiot. Still, though you have no visible wounds, the damage you've taken will make it hard for you to move and fight." Heath said as he watch Asta struggle to get up.

After finally regaining his bearings, Asta rushed to try and attack again.

"I'm not done!" he said as he charged towards Heath.

"And I'm no boar that can be pinned!" the ice man countered as he raised his hand and launched another ice spike from the ground, hitting Asta's left side as blood gushed out.

The dragon boy hit the ground rolling as he was coughing a bit. Everyone that was being protected could only watch as Asta struggled to get up again, the spear he made being used as a cane to help pick himself up. Asta quickly reached into his pocket and ate some iron nails he brought, using it to refuel a bit and make some iron fold over his side wound.

"I'm not done yet!" he said as he removed the spear from the ground waved in to his right. "Got that?"

Heath watched with the same stone face as a scoff came from his lips. "Huh! How persistent, you're gonna regret wasting my time."

While Magna watched this, he thought back to his past on how he started on his road to becoming a magic knight. His village celebrated him from begining as a street punk to become the golden boy of their home and Seihei giving him the satchel for his grimoire. With a new conviction and a make shift plan, Magna was ready to fight!

"I got this, I'll do it, Seihei! I'm not gonna give up yet!" he said.

Noelle watched this as he suddenly, lightly punch himself in the face, unaware of his thoughts.

'A real man hangs on to the bitter end!' Magna thought with a toothy smile.

After asking if it was easy to exit the dome and receiving an obvious answer, Magna ordered Noelle to stay and look after the villagers as he began to walk out of her spell. Meanwhile, Heath was busy trying to tell Asta to just give in and give up, to which Asta replied,

"If I give up now, then who would protect them?"

The villagers were shocked and warmed by Asta's words as he was still willing to protect them from Heath.

"Sooner or later, I'm going to become the Wizard King. But it's more than just a promise, it's about keeping people safe!" he finished with determination in his eyes.

Heath just stared at him and replied, "You think you're gonna be the Wizard King? What a ridiculous dream." He then looked down towards his watch again, watching it tick after time before continuing, "Especially considering you'll be dead in one minute."

All thoughts were then interrupted as Magna, covered in fire magic, walk out of Noelle's spell.

"Not gonna happen, frosty!" he shouted as the fired burned brightly. "If you wanna go after him, just try it! But in order to do that, you gotta go through me!" Magna finished as he put his fire out and pointed to himself.

Asta was confused to why Magna was here but the man just chuckled and said, "We're the real men here, Asta!"

Heath just continued to look unimpressed as he replied to the fool's comment, "Reckless fool. Going out of you're way to die pointlessly? You have 30 seconds."

The men Heath brought were getting ready to attack Magna as the fire user was ready.

"Bring it on!" he said to them about to attack. "You ready, Asta?" he asked his friend with a smile.

Asta was confused by this but gained a smile, eager to see what Magna had in mind.

"Time for a baptism!" Magna said as he brought out his grimoire. Asta smile remained the same as his senoir was putting his plan into action.

"Here we go! All the power I've got left! "he proclaimed as he flared up his magic, focusing it into his right hand. "Now my soul ball! **Flame Magic Prison Death Scatter Shot!** " he proclaim as he wound up his shot.

With a mighty shout, Magna launched his attack, scattering streams of fire blast toward Heath and his minions. Heath didn't bat an eye as he made ice shield for him and his minions. The attack was about to be stopped dead in it's tracks until,

"Think again! **Iron Dragon Demon Logs!** "

Heath turned around to see Asta, who made another iron spear head on his other arm, as he launched his attacks but they weren't focused on him, the attacks were focused on Heath's ice shield, destroying it and allowing Magna's attack to hit them. Smoke was kicked up as Magna was rising from the ground, falling over after exhausting himself.

"Thought that was reckless, it was an impressive attack for a lowly street punk" Noelle said as she was back to her 'high and mighty' act.

Magna just chuckled and replied, "You really can never keep you're mouth shut, can you?"

Back in the ember of Magna's attack, Heath was slowly rising as the flames clung to his chest.

'The flames aren't going out!' He thought as he rose. 'No matter, I'll freeze them out.'

As Heath gave a mighty cry to in case his chest in ice to put out the flames, he left himself wide open for Asta to jump into his sight. The boy had his left leg turned into an iron club and prepared to attack.

"Not done yet!" he said.

To say Heath was shocked as an understatement.

"As long as I can move, I'm not done!" Asta said as he began to swing his body sideways, lifting his club leg in the air.

Heath broke into an ice cold sweat (jokes) as his eyes begged Asta not to finish him. "No, you can't!" he said.

"LIKE HELL!" Asta shouted as he brought his left leg club down onto Heath's right shoulder, bringing the man to his knees.

'No, impossible. Me? Bested? And by this boy?' Heath thought as blood come from his mouth once again, staring at Asta's cold, serious face as he fell to the ground. 'If only I could've been of more use to the master. But...'

Heath's body hit the ground as Asta stood wit hhis left leg still in club form until her reverted it back to normal and stood on both feet. The villagers held reactions of shock, happiness, and amazed from what they just saw, the Black Bulls saved them.

"He did it." said the grandson of Seihei, Nick.

"Are we safe?" asked the girl next to Noelle, who replied with a smile.

"Yes, he can't hurt you now. It's over."

As Heath layed on the ground with Asta still watching him, the flames on his chest spread and formed a harness with eight binds going around his arms. This confused Asta until Magna explained.

"What started as **Flame Magic Prison Death Scatter Shot** , will now become **Flame Binding Magic Bondage Formation!** " he said as the flames wrapped up the other 3. Impressive as it was, Noelle had to kill it with a snide comment.

"Well, you're better at this than I thought you'd be, I can give you that much anyway." she said.

Magna didn't take that lightly and replied, "How about you shut the royal mouth of yours and quit looking down on your superior?!" he yelled.

"Once again, you just happen to be below me. So-" Noelle's comment towards Magna, still on his knees, and turned to Asta who shouted,

"Magna sir!"

Everyone turned their attetion towards one of Heath minions, as he turned into water. As Noelle was making a comment on it, the water dome started to fall, causing everyone to get wet. This cause Magna to joyously reply,

"OH HO HO HO! What was that about follow through?"

His mind immediately returned to the one that got away and he complained about it as the sun came out. Asta still stood over Heath as he was breathing heavily.

"How do you like that, you got beat by a commoner. HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT?!" was all Asta said as he fell on his back, showing off a big smile.


	12. Shopping

**Solartiger: Thank you.**

 **Amaterasu: I got a plan for that.**

 **Guest: I'll find time to do so.**

As the sun was shining brightly and the villagers were joyful from the Black Bull's victory, Heath and his two remaining henchmen had regained consciousness and found themselves still bonded by flames and leaned against a wall with Asta, Magna, and Noelle standing in front of them. Magna was in front of his juniors with Heath grimoire in hand as they glared at the mercenaries.

"About time you woke up you sadistic jerks. Now we gotta wait til my magic is back to full and then we're hauling you straight to the capital with Crazy Cyclone!" Magna said with a stare face as he pointed to the criminal. "You're gonna pay and spend the rest of your lives making up for what you did here today."

'Hmm, this spell seems to be blocking my magic.' Heath thought as Magna continued to speak.

"Just wait, you're gonna spill everything. Who you are, what you're after, that Magic Knights will get every last scraped of information out of you!" Magna yelled.

"They will not." Heath interjected. This caused all three of them to be confused before Heath continued, "The end is near."

As he finished, a bright blue light shined from Heath's chest and illuminated him.

'A magic item's inside him?' Magna thought as he, Asta and Noelle watched.

"Engage **Ice Magic Ice Burial.** " Heath said as ice surrounded him and his cohorts.

The bulls stared in shock until a few seconds later when the ice cracked and broke into thousands of dissolving pieces, killing them in an instant. The grimoire Magna was holding soon withered away, following in the footsteps of its master.

Everyone was shocked by this turn of event's as Magna said, "They were willing to go that far? That's some serious loyalty to someone."

Noelle just stared in shock, the words she wanted to speak on this were nowhere to be found while Asta growled in anger.

"What was he thinking, to sacrifice them all like that? What was his game?" he said as he looked and saw Heath's pocket watch had remained. He marched towards it and picked it up, glaring at the accursed thing as it kept ticking. "How could they? Treating life like it's something to throw away, like death is nothing!" Asta started to squeeze the watch as cracks started to form. "I will never understand these people! "he said as he crushed the watch in his hand, causing some glass to fall inside and the ticking to stop. The outside of the watch had been bent in from his grip as he dropped the watch to the ground. "Not in a million years!" he finished as turned back towards his friends with the same angry look on his face but when Magna and Noelle saw this look, they could've sworn they saw something appear over Asta. Something that had glowing eyes, sharp teeth, and wings. It could only be descried in one word, a beast.

 **Opening Theme: The same normal anime but near end Asta is standing proud with an outline of a dragon standing behind him with glowing eyes. He grins with pride as he brings up his right arm and covers itself with iron scales. He then strikes the ground as a bright light shines and covers him. The ending of the intro is the same.**

A few hours later, after going to Seihei's grave to comfort his grandson and acquiring a strange stone Seihei always caried with him from a tired looking anti-magic bird Noelle found "cute", the trio had returned to the Black Bull base where they were standing in before Yami, who was laughing his ass off after hearing the adventure they just experienced.

"Sound like you had your hand full, huh?" he said as he kept laughing.

While Noelle was wondering what was so funny, Asta proceeded to say a few word.

"Sorry, captain, but why are you laughing? This hardly seems the time for it." he said.

"Why not? Being sad isn't going to bring Seihei back is it?" Yami asked as he took the cigarette out of his mouth.

"No, you're right sir! Seihei was a man of laughter, he wouldn't want our sorrow, so come on, let's laugh for the old guy." Magna said as he awkwardly laughed making Asta and Noelle cringe but they could tell the lost of a dear friend was still hurting inside.

He then told them to laugh as well, which follow with a weak laugh from Asta as Magna started up again. Yami just stared at the three, while Noelle just stared a bit until she started as well, filling the room with forced, half-hearted, awkward laughter, while no one noticed a small tear in Magna's eye that was hidden under his shades. After the laughter die, Yami gave them a little speech about Seihei's death and protecting the village, something they should be proud of.

"Sir!" Magna and Asta shouted while Noelle turned her face with a slight blush.

"Sure" she said.

Yami laughed while Asta looked confused at the sight of Magna holding his arm over his chest with three fingers out. The answer was giving in the form of a shout as it was said to be the Magic Knights' Salute, the three fingers represented the leave of a clover. Asta then decided to give it a try with full dedication and it came out looking sharp, earning a proud smile from Magna as a portal behind him open, revealing Finral and Vanessa, wearing actual clothes instead of just her birthday suit, walking out. They congratulated the trio on their mission to Saussy Village and told Yami about their visit to the Magic Investigation Department, they were all disappointed when Vanessa told them nothing came up. That lead to Magna with a hand of fire, holding it in.

"What good are they then?!" he complain as he threw a fireball at the wall, creating a small crater.

This action caused Yami to stand and shout, with his magic coating his body, "That's enough! Quit breaking everything!"

His voiced echoed through the night as he smashed a hole through the wall behind him, causing a small explosion. After Magna quickly and fearfully apologized, Finral said,

"That pocket watch, though crushed for some reason, was pretty nice. Not just something anyone would own."

"That's right and based on his speech about commoners, I'd say were looking at someone of fairly high rank." Vanessa said as she held her chin. Neither of then noticed that Asta was sweating a bit while looking away, knowing that he might have destroyed valuable evidence.

"Royalty or at least nobility." Magna grumbled as Noelle looked to the side at Asta's head as the anti-magic bird that stole and gave him Seihei's stone, poke out. This caused everyone to turn their attention to it.

While Vanessa and Noelle were saying how cute it was, Asta found it a pest that was currently poking him with its peak. It flew off his head and around the room as Asta summoned an iron sword to from on his arm.

"I'm gonna fry you up for dinner, you little pest!" he shouted as the spikes on the sword started spinning around it.

"You won't lay so much as a finger on him." Noelle said as she was ready to fire a water spell at the iron user who threaten to hurt the little "cutey."

This quickly escalated into a battle that caused water to flood out of two parts of the hideout and Yami to get angry again and join in the destruction but blowing a hole in the front. The two quickly bowed and apologized as Noelle thought,

'Although, you're doing most of the damage.'

Afterward, Yami said to leave it to the professionals and wait as well as give an announcement, saying that the Wizard King himself recognized their efforts and bestowed the group a golden star. (Someone say Preschool) It was a sign that they had done a great deed for the people and it was mainly for honor. This got everyone excited as Magna came to Asta and threw his arm over the dragon boy's shoulder.

"It's a medal for real men with real honor! You should be proud." he said as Noelle walked to the duo and said,

"Don't forget woman too, genius."

"A real medal for us, real men _and_ woman!" Magna shouted as Noelle just sighs in annoyance.

Vanessa then reveal its like a competition between all knight squads to see who can claim the most, their high the amount, the better you are. The Golden Dawns are the top with 70 starts while the Black Bulls, counting the one they received, have -30. The truth caused Asta and Noelle to reel back as this rag tag squad has a LOT of catching up to do if they want to stop being call "the worst of the worst."

Yami then turned to them with a smile and mentioned, "One more thing, your wages this month."

He then handed out bags of money they called "Yule" as each member gave their respective reactions. Asta was amazed by the amount, Noelle looked neutral, Magna bowed to Yami like he was a god, Luck wanted to beat his in battle with Yami, Charmy was going to buy food with it, Gauche was planning to buy clothes for his sister with a nosebleed, and Grey just let out the usual puff of smoke.

"You've got the day off tomorrow everybody, don't blow your wages." Yami said as he left and everyone thanked him.

2 hour later, after a take about sawing a little money for yourself and Vanessa offering to take Asta and Noelle to the castle town to shop in the morning, Asta is now writing a letter home and sending some Yule with it, while fantasizing about Sister Lily again.

-Timeskip, Morning-

Asta, and Noelle were with Vanessa as they were flying towards the market place to shop. While this was happening, the royal girl of the trio was having an internal conflict with Asta being so close to her because of the events be in Saussy Village. She wouldn't admit it but she was falling for the iron dragon boy, who was falling off once again due to putting his hands on Noelle's waist and caused her to elbow him away.

Once they were in the market place of the town, they looked around and wonder what they wanted to buy while a few of their fellow members were off doing their own things, from eating to flirting to buying thing for loved ones. As they continued to perused the market, they heard passing people talking about them, apparently the Black Bulls' reputation is well known.

After Vanessa got what she needed, she lead Asta and Noelle down a dead end alley but it was then revealed to be a door way to the Black Market, a place of danger and good magical items you can't find in the normal market, such as magic suppressors for a certain royal girl's uncontrollable magic. AS the trio kept walking, Asta noticed a den full of people.

"You're not ready for that just yet." Vanessa said as she came behind him with Noelle. "That place will clean you out if you're not careful, best to avoid it."

As she finished giving her warning, Magna walked by with a happy grin on his face and plans to increase his payday. Just the sight alone was enough to give Asta and Noelle the same thought.

'That's not going to end well.'

We now cut to Noelle and Vanessa, who are standing a man's stand perusing for a magic suppression necklace while unknowingly drawing the attention of the person Asta defeated at the Magic Knights Exam, Sekke, who had a cloth with a praying mantis on it and some stubble on his face. They had picked a necklace, that was ugly in Noelle's opinion, and tried to blast a small water spell in hopes of some control but this backfired after the spell was shot. It changed it's course from down a gap between stands to directly at Sekke, knocking him to the ground.

"You only have yourself to blame for walking there in the first place." Noelle said as she quickly switched to the royal mask.

As Sekke returned to his feet and put on a suave look, he tried to flirt with them a bit and wanted to escort them to safety, completely unaware they were Magic Knights themselves.

"Get lost, lowly bug." Noelle said as Vanessa just yawned in bordom.

Sekke was caught off by this and was caught of even more when he saw the one who was responsible for him ending up in the Praying Mantis' was walking up to the girl holding a strange little toy with him. Asta noticed Sekke and gave off a friendly greeting, completely forgetting what Sekke's thoughts of being a Magic Knight.

'The best looking woman here and they're with him?!' Sekke thought as he was giving a nervous smile. 'They're wearing Black Bull robes too?! Stupid Asta, I can't believe I'm actually jealous of a Black Bull. Damn Him!'

Sekke continued to shake a little in rage as the old woman who beat him in cards and stole all his Yule was being robbed by a man with a hood.

"Hey, those are my winnings! Somebody stop him!" the old lady yelled.

Asta immediately responded and ran after the thief, not knowing what may lie ahead for him.


	13. Thieves and News

**Atarya QueenofEgypt: Thank you.**

 **Archie Dragneel: No need to be an ass, I know it's not perfect but you don't need to be so harsh about it.**

Asta ran as fast as he could to catch the thief, who was using a magic cloud he made, while Noelle, Vanessa, and Sekke were still with the old woman they got her money stolen.

"The nerve of him. Stealing in front of a Magic Knight's Squad." Noelle said as she was helping the old woman up.

"You can say that again but just leave this to Asta, I'm sure he can handle it." Vanessa said as she was staring in the direction the thief and Asta went.

"I hope you're right, dear." the old woman said as she was back on her feet.

When this was being done, Sekke decided to take action and gain their attention.

"HA HAH! Asta, you're not getting all the glory that easy!" he said as he brought out his grimoire. **"** **Bronze Creation Magic! Sekke Shooting Star!"**

In an instant, Sekke was now on a bronze bicycle covered in patterns with a small Sekke front with wings and a pair of larger wings on the back while being balanced on two bronze spheres.

The sight of the creation was horrifying and disgusting towards to Black Bull girls while the old woman actually thought it looked amazing. Sekke turned towards the ladies and dawned a confident smile.

"Don't worry about a thing, ladies. Just stay here and let me do my thing!" he said as he winked an blow them a kiss, which Noelle and Vanessa dodged.

"Gross!" Vanessa said as she dodged to the left.

"So creepy!" Noelle said as she dodged to the right.

"HA HAH!" Sekke shouted as he ignored their complaints and shoot forwards at a great speed to catch up to Asta and the thief.

Meanwhile, Asta was still on foot to pursue the cloud thief through the capital alleyways as the man keep going with no intention of being caught.

"Get back here!" Asta shouted.

The thief then turned a corner and gained more ground as Asta was getting further behind.

"I'm not gonna let you get away! **Iron Dragon Club!** " he said as his right foot changed into an iron column and shot forward.

"He does he really think he can catch me?" The thief said smugly until heard a familiar voice.

He turned around and saw Asta was catching up by somehow extending his legs.

"Got you now!" Asta said as he continued to pursue.

The thief continued his attempt at escape as Asta continued to catch up by changing legs to iron clubs with each leap. The thief kept ahead as he turned a corner and saw a double window. As he passed he tapped the window and drew to attention of the home owner, who opened it.

"Huh? Who's there?" said the man who opened the window and looked around.

What the man didn't see was Asta, who leapt forward on his right leg and crashed through both windows. The man yelped in surprise as the iron dragon slayer rolled on the ground before quickly recovering and continuing to run after the thief while the man who opened the window looked towards him.

"Hey! What about my window?!" he said.

Asta continued to run after the thief as he turned back real quick and gave, "Sorry, sir!"

The thief and his escape cloud rounded a corner and turned his head to see Asta was no where to be seen.

"He, looks like I lost him. Bout time he gave up." He said confidently until Asta came running to him.

"No way I'm letting you go that easy!" Asta said as he ran at the thief and continued the chase.

"You're a stubborn one!" the thief said as he turned back to Asta before turning forward and yelling in surprise as a wagon full of hay was in his path.

The thief crashed through the hay as he rose into the sky but was blinded a bit with the stuff in his field of vision. Back on the ground, Asta came upon the hay and used it to jump into the air. Bouncing off clothes drying lines and onto a building, where he continued his chance with the thief.

"That purse is going back to it's owner!" he said as he extended his right leg with an iron club of the ground once again.

"This kid's faster than I thought if he can keep up on foot!" said the thief as he looked back from his cloud.

"I gotta do something about that cloud or I'll next catch him." Asta said as he continued to run. "I can't use my roar cause it'll cause to much damage, I'll have to improvise. Here goes!"

Asta then jumped forward and into the air, a bit higher above the bandit, and put his improvised plan in to action.

 **"Iron Dragon Sword!"** He shouted as his left leg turned into an giant iron sword covered in teeth. "Let's do this! Now **Iron Dragon-** "

The teeth of the sword started to spin around the blade as Asta himself started to roll his body forward as fast as he could, giving him the appearance of a wheel.

 **"Spinning Slash!"**

Asta came down towards the thief as he looked up in shock.

"What the hell?!" was all he could saw before moving to his right as the attack destroyed his cloud and he was sent plummeting towards that ground. Asta stopped his attack and landed with his sword leg stuck in the ground before returning it to normal, he stared as the thief was lucky to land on his feet.

"I've got you now!" Asta said as he ran to attack the thief, who started to run once again but before he could get far, a familiar voice was heard.

"HA HAH!" said the voice as it was revealed to be Sekke, who sped past Asta on his bronze bike.

Asta was surprised by this but quickly replaced it with a look of wonder at the bike, "Man, that is so cool!"

'This thief is all mine!' Sekke thought as he neared the thief. "HA HAH!" he said as his bronze bike rammed into the thief, causing the money he stole to fall from his grip and send him to the ground. Sekke then pulled up next to him and disembarked his bike before walking towards the thief.

"It's over now and I'll get all the credit." he said be before giving a hardy laugh.

While Sekke was joyous of his "victory", the thief was not as he reach into his pocket and pulled out a, most likely poison, knife. He was about to stab Sekke in the foot with it until a kunai came from behind and knocked the knife out of his hand and into the air, where it spun forward until it clattered against the ground. This caught Sekke's attention as well as he and the thief looked back to see Asta, with more kunai between his fingers.

"I don't think so, you lousy rat." he said with a glare towards the thief.

The look he was getting made him frightened to his very core and unable to stay conscious from the fear thus passing out on the ground.

A couple of minutes later, the thief was tied up in ropes and on the back of the shooting star bike while Sekke was talking with Asta, Noelle, and Vanessa wth a smile on his face.

"I'll admit, you have come far from the exam, Asta, but you'll have to work even harder for our next meeting cause I'll be even stronger by then!" he said as he pointed to Asta, who returned the smile.

"You got it!" he said.

"HA HAH!" Sekke shouted as he sped off to turn the criminal into the nearest jail and left the Black Bulls to return to stolen Yule.

As they watched the Praying Mantis leave, Vanessa's opinion of Asta grew a bit.

'He may look like a kid compared to that strange man but Asta's stronger where it truly counts.' She thought as she let out a little laugh.

-Hours later-

The Black Bulls had returned the money to the old woman from the black market and returned to their base to tell Yami of the trip while getting some interesting news as well.

"WHAT?! The Golden Dawn got a star, no way!" Asta shouted as Yami told him and Noelle of the latest news.

"Yeah and right when were closing the gap too. I guess we're to 101 now." Yami said as he let out an amused laugh.

"And we were so close in catching up to them!" Asta said as he clenched his fists.

Noelle sighed and closed her eyes as she mumbled, "Not even close. We're still at negative 30 stars."

"They won't be in the league for long, we'll catch up in no time! I'm coming for you, Golden Dawn!" Asta said as Yami smirked at his confidence and Noelle stared at him in question. "YUNO!"

* * *

Side Notes

1: Iron Dragon Spin Slash is OC attack #2, #1 is back in Ch. 10.

2: I decided to cut Sekke a break, even the dumbest of dogs deserve a treat now and then.

3: I decided to skipped episode 13 cause I feel Yuno is a badass character enough as it is.


	14. Our First Dungeon

**BanRedFox: Thanks and I may have them appear in a flashback, so Asta can gain more power. Wink wink.**

 **bulk Locke the grim head: Patience! Good things come to those who wait.**

Time has pasted since Asta received news that Golden Dawn had gained a star from the Wizard King like Black Clover did and he was even more determined to surpass Yuno and become the Wizard King. Currently, Asta is exercising in the Black Bull's hideout with a few of his fellow bulls lounging around and the strange anti bird sitting on his head. While he doing one handed push ups, Magna is sitting on his back eating pudding with Luck crouching in front of Magna, constantly asking him to battle.

"Not a chance, battle boy." Magna said as he was still eating, denying the energetic boy's request once again.

"Come on, Magna! You know you wanna fight if you don't want me to eat you flan again!" Luck said with an innocent smile as he threaten to eat his fellow member's food.

"Keep your psycho, battle loving hands away from my food!" Magna replied in anger.

"So you'll battle me then?" Luck excitedly asked as he got in Magna's face.

"NO!" Magna said.

As they kept arguing while Asta was exercising, Noelle and Vanessa, who were currently in the room with them, were deciding on a name for the "cute" little anti bird that was still on Asta's head.

"Maybe Savanti Schnauzer?" Noelle suggested with a smile on her face as she was crouched down near Asta to admire the bird on his head.

"It's good but I think a different name would be better." Vanessa said as she was laying up from her position on the couch in her underwear. She was currently holding a bottle of wine with her as she looked to her friend. "Something like wine! Vintz Vinson Bourbonly, huh?" she suggested after looking at the wine bottle she held in her right hand.

No one said anything about the suggestion, much to her disappointment as Gauche, the squad family man, decided to give his suggestion while holding up a picture of his little sister, Marie.

"You can use a syllable from the name of any angel of a sister, Marie. So, I shall dub you..."Ma."" he suggested but was quickly canceled with Magna claim.

"This bird is tough, he needs a cooler name that that. Give me a sec." he said ass he closed his eyes and thought of a name. "I got it. This guy's is gonna be named Magnum Fire!" he said as he gave a thumbs up to the bird.

Noelle gave a sad look as Vanessa and Luck just smiled at the fire mage's suggestion.

"Lame." She said.

"You have terrible taste." Magna said countering her comment on his name for the bird.

"Right back at you." Noelle countered back.

Asta took this time to stop his push ups and use the hand he had behind his back to reaching into the pouch he had to his right side. Inside the pouch was various iron objects that Asta could eat when he needed more energy or needed to replenish, he pulled out the a sharped tip he relinquished from a poker one would see near a fire place and brought it to his mouth to eat as a bit was outside of his mouth before returning to his push ups.

The name game continued as Grey, Gordon, and Charmy wanted to give their ideas as well but it was all in vain. Grey just released smoke from where a mouth should be, Gordon muttered incoherent words but hopefully it was something good, and Charmy was only paying half attention as she was gorging herself on deserts at a table.

"I say we fatten him up, I'm craving drum sticks and he looks delicious." she said as she didn't even turn around.

"Abosulutly not." Noelle said.

Charmy decided to turn to the group as she gave another suggestion, "Hmm, alright but do you think it'll lay some eggs?"

Noelle just stared at the little glutton in confusion until Asta decided to give his suggestion as he was about to finish the iron in his mouth. "His name is "Birdy Boy."" he said as he swallowed the iron in his mouth.

This caused a brief argument between the two as the bird grew annoyed and decided to peck Asta.

"Ow, ow, ow! **Iron Dragon Scales!** Ow!" he said as he coated his body in iron, preventing the bird's pecking from hurting. "Ha! Can't hurt me now, Birdy Boy!"

Noelle gained a straight look before saying, "That pecking just proves my point. He obviously like my name for him better."

Noelle then smiled as she got closer to the anti bird, "Isn't that right, Savanti Schnauzer?"

The bird did nothing as Magna decided to give a thumbs up in front of Noelle's face. " His name is Magnum Fire!" he said.

"No, Ma!" Gauche said.

"It's wine." Vanessa said.

While this was going on, Luck finally decided to give his option for a decent name. "How about Nero? It's another word for "Black" or "dark." I think it's pretty cool." he said and to everyone's surprise, "Nerrow raised his left wing in the air, showing that he liked the name.

Everyone argued and questioned that the name was ridiculous until one of Finral's portal's opened with him and Yami walking through. The Bull leader then explained that there was a new discovery near the border of the Clover Kingdom and the Diamond Kingdom, a dungeon has appeared out of the blue, causing everyone to get excited.

"Do you mean it, Yami sir?!" Magna asked in a respectful and excited way.

Asta was about to cheer with them but quickly tossed the idea aside as he figured out an important question.

"Um, what's a dungeon?" he asked, causing everyone to look at him in shocked.

"Do you seriously not know what it is?! No wonder you weren't shocked earlier!" Magna said before he started to explain. "Alright, Dungeons 101. Dungeons are tombs where mages from the passed stored their most valuable and powerful magical items, techniques, etic. so no one else can get their hands on them. Basically, dungeons are the best thing for a mage to find, they rock sky high!" he said as Asta was astounded by the thought of dungeons and the items they hold.

"One thing, though." Luck interrupted their fantasy of the awesomeness a dungeon can hold. "They kinda try to kill you with all the trap spells put in from before so they can keep other from misusing it. So they're both seriously dangerous and seriously fun!" Luck finished with a smile as Asta looked horrified with this sudden news.

After more information about the dungeon and what was at stake, with it being on the border of two enemy countries, Asta requested to go and explore but what he didn't know was that he was already going.

"Of course you're going. The Wizard King himself requested you go." Yami said like it was no big deal.

Asta held a look of dumbfoundedness before reeling back in shock, "WHAT?! He requested me?!"

"Hey, look at that, you're called in by the big shot, NICE!" Magna said as he congratulated his junior before asking "Say, you got something with the Wizard King, you pals?"

"Nope, not at all." Asta said. He then stepped forward as light from a window shined down upon him. "I don't know why he chose me but I won't let him down! I'll give everything in this mission, body, soul, and magic. YEAH!" He said with joy filled tears coming down his eyes.

"The others that will be heading out are Noelle, so she can get some experience, and Luck, your on lead." Yami said. "Can't have you losing your edge if you stay here all day."

"Yes, sir." Luck said with a smile while Magna looked a little worried.

With the help of Finral's portal magic, the 3 bulls were able to be within walking distance of the dungeon. They proceeded inside without any source of light until they saw some light coming from a small brick on the wall, Asta approached the brick and pushed it, hoping it unlock some sort of secret passage. Instead the entire wall feel to piece, revealing an amazing looking dungeon with waterfalls going around the walls with stairways and doors all over the place. The three looked around in amazement as they have never seen anything like this before while the anti bird, which was still on Asta's head, simply blinked.

"What is going on? Why is it like this?" Noelle asked.

"This place must've been warped by all the magic. I can feel it in the air, it's so thick!" Luck said with his usual smile.

"I've never been in a place with so much, it's incredible." Noelle said as she looked around.

"Yeah, I feel it too. It's crazy." Asta said as he looked around as well.

While looking, his eyes fell upon a strange magic circle on the ground and approached it.

"Hey, what's this?" he said before reaching out to it.

The moment the circle was touch, a wave made out of stone popped from the ground and was about to crush Asta until,

 **"Iron Dragon Clubs!"**

From Asta's arms, came two iron pillars that smashed through the stone wave, allowing the iron boy to sigh in relief before returning his arms to normal.

"That was close." Asta said as he rubbed his head.

"Try to stay clear of those. You almost got us killed." Noelle said.

Luck watched this go on as an idea popped in his head before looking around and spotting another magic circle. "Hey, Asta, come here." he said as he gestured Asta to come closer.

Asta approached and saw that Luck was pointing to it.

"Another magic trap?" he said as he look at it.

A second later, Luck patted Asta hard on the back, forcing him to stumble and step on the circle causing another stone wave to appear before Asta destroyed it with another iron club. While Asta was breathing heavily from the sudden surprise, Luck was laughing merrily as Asta and Noelle turned to him in anger and shock.

"What's the big idea!?" Asta said.

"That's was fun to watch the first time so I had to see it again." Luck said as he clapped his hands.

"Are you crazy?!" Noelle shouted at the boy with her fists clenched.

This fell to deaf ears as Luck proceeded to jump in the air before landing and activating more traps, this time they were tornadoes of fire and water. Asta retaliated both times by smashing the circles, which were inside the tornadoes, and canceled out the traps. Luck then landed the usual smile on his face as he addressed the two.

"Now that was fun! This place is so great, I could spend all day here." he said.

Asta, with his right arm as an iron club, and Noelle were both panting in exhaustion as they stared at the young, battle lover and thought the same thing.

'This guy is gonna get us killed!'

"Wow, your magic really is one of a kind! I can't wait to find you one day, Asta!" Luck said as he examined Asta's club arm. "Keep that power ready and this will be a piece of cake." he finished as he walk away from Asta and Noelle before stopping.

"Now, let's see what we got." Luck said before closing his eyes and concentrating.

Not many know this but Luck has the best sensory ability for magic in all of the Knight Squad, if there's a strong enough magic or enemy wizard within his range, he can find them. He focus on the dungeon and who would be inside with them, which was found out after a mere minute when Luck felt a strong magical presence from one of the doorways. He open his eyes and grew a crazy smile as his grimoire opened in front of him.

 **'Lightning Creation Magic. Holy Lightning Boots.'** Luck thought as glowing boots made of lightning appear on his feet. He then jumped in the air as Asta and Noelle stared blankly at him.

"Sorry guys but something's come up and I need to check it out. You guys go on through the dungeon and I'll see ya later!" he said before leaving in bolts of lightning as he sped of to who knows where.

"NO! WAIT!." Noelle tried to protest but it was too late, Luck was gone. "What is he thinking?!"

Noelle just stared in shock as Asta stared in excitement from Luck's lightning magic and said. "SO COOL!"

"Why is this happening?!" Noelle shouted as she grabbed her head.

Once the two got over the sudden departure of Luck, Asta an Noelle forged onward through the dungeon while Noelle was complaining about Luck until Asta tried to calm her.

"Relax, if we come across any more traps, we'll get through them. easy." he said.

Noelle sighs before replying, "It must be nice to be simple minded like that."

"Calm down, will ya? This is gonna be easy for the future Wizard King" Asta replied with a smile.

"Once again with that calm," Noelle said.

"Yep, and it's gonna come true! So watch out, everyone, especially you, Yuno!" he said as Noelle gained interested look.

"Yuno?" she asked.

As they continued to walk and Asta was explaining his history, Noelle was currently thinking about their current situation.

'I'm alone with Asta. Wait, Nero is here, but still...'

Ever since the defeat of Heath in Saussy Village, Noelle has developed a bit of a crush on Asta, admiring him for his will to never give up. It always lite a fire in her knowing that aspect about him, even if he is a commoner.

"Hey, you alright?" Asta asked as he turned around to see his fellow bull still standing at the top of the steps they were coming down.

"Uh, no, you insect!" she said as she returned to reality. "Now let's hurry!" Noelle then proceeded to walk ahead of Asta but, unfortunately for her, she activated another trap as vines suddenly came up from the ground and grabbed her.

"UH! Oh no, not another one!" she said in surprise and worry.

Asta watched in surprise as the a giant, purple venus fly trap rose from the side river and open it's gapping maw, showing them it's stomach full of purple digestive fluids and skeletons.

"Su-such power." Noelle said as she struggled to free herself from the monster that was being pulling her into it's mouth.

She continued to struggle as she closed her eyes and awaited her fate until she heard a voice that made her shot her eyes back open.

 **"Iron Dragon Sword!"**

After Noelle opened her eyes, she heard a strange noise as the vines that held her were cut through. She turned her head and saw Asta with his right arm as an iron sword with moving teeth spinning around it. The look in his eyes spoke conviction and determination as she was left breathless. Noelle landed with a thud as Asta got in front of her and kept slashing vines away.

"Asta." Noelle said.

"Don't worry! I got this!" he said as he slashed away another vine.

As he kept slicing, they both felt a wave of magic energy coming from behind them and suddenly, a giant crystal had embedded itself in the trapped before more rained down and killed it. The trapped then fell backward into the water as Asta and Noelle stared in shocked.

"Who did that?" Asta said in amazement.

"Such power, such precision but who spell is that?" Noelle asked before turning around to see who launched.

Standing in one of the door ways, was Asta's adoptive brother and rival, Yuno with his four leaf clover grimoire hovering in front of him and two other members from the Golden Dawn squad at his side.

"My debt is repaid, Asta." he said with a smile.

Asta returned the smile as stared at him, "Hey, Yuno."

With the arrival of the Golden Dawn, will they be able to survive the tricks and traps of the dungeon or does this mean that there are even greater dangers lurking with in?


	15. Aiding a Friend

**bulk Locke the the grim head:** **Sorry for the late update, College is tough to handle when you're a freshman.**

Now with the danger of the giant, carnivorous plant trap past, Yuno and his Golden Dawn associates have descended to ground level with Asta and Noelle. Both groups stared at each other while all sporting different faces and while Asta, with Nero on his head, and Yuno were happy to see each other after a long period of time, Noelle and Yuno's allies from Golden Dawn were busy mentally assessing each other.

'So this is Yuno.' Noelle thought as she watched the two foster brother smile fondly at each other until she looked to Yuno's fellow Dawns and couldn't help but grown at the red haired female to Yuno's left that was smiling at her . 'And that's- Hmm.'

"Yuno, can you please explain to me why you just saved these people?" asked the man with glasses to Yuno's right as he drew everyone's attention. "We were given the task of exploring this dungeon and claiming it's valuables. We must reach the treasure room post hast and not delay ourselves with this rabble." he said as he walked up to Asta.

"Hey, what's your problem four eyes? Why you gotta be so rude? We haven't done anything to you!" Asta said as he poked his finger in the man's face, much to the man's annoyance and anger.

"Klaus Lunette, my superior." Yuno said answering Asta's question but his voice fell to deaf ears as Klaus, the man who was suppose to be Yuno's senior and a noble by his own words, was having a childish argument about respect with respect with both yelling.

While this was being done, the red headed woman decided to greet Noelle with a smile and a wave, "It's good to see you again, Noelle. I didn't think I'd see you again in a please like this." She finished with a giggle.

Noelle just looked towards the side, mentally wishing this meeting never happened while the red head kept talking.

"It's almost been a year since the royal banquet hasn't it?" she asked with the smile still on her face.

Seeing the two woman talk, Asta pried himself out of the bespectacled man's grip and walked towards to two.

"You know this girl, Noelle?" he asked as he stood next to her.

"A bit, yes." said female said with an annoyed smile on her face.

"Yes, my name is Mimosa Vermillion, I'm Noelle's cousin." the girl now known as Mimosa said to Asta.

"Really?" Asta asked in surprise, now knowing that he was in the presence of 3 nobles along with his brother Yuno.

"Yes, quite a surprise isn't it?" Noelle said with a twitching eye brow and thought, 'Why did it have to be her?'

"I heard the Black Bulls can be rather unrefined at times, so I was wondering how you're doing with them, Noelle?" Mimosa asked.

"Well, yes but I guess I should be asking you the same thing." Noelle retorted, much to Mimosa's surprise. "Can you keep up with the elite members of Golden Dawn, knowing how you are?" she finished, hoping to get some joy out of teasing her cousin.

"Oh! Sure, with all their kindness and support, I can wield my magic with no trouble!" she replied with a giggle, not even noticing her cousin's attempt and insulting her. Mimosa then stepped closer to Noelle before saying, "Oh, I'm so sorry! I forgot that you've always had a hard time controlling you're own magic, I hope it's gotten better."

Noelle just gave a fake smile and strained to keep it that way after Mimosa's comment, 'This girl clearly still has no filter, just wonderful.' She thought before saying, "It's fine, a friend has been helping me. No need to worry."

"That's great, I'm happy to see we're both doing great as Magic Knights. The Wizard King even gave us a star on for our last mission." Mimosa said as this got a smile from Asta and Noelle.

"That's great and what a coincidence, we got a star for our last mission, too." Asta said with a smile while Noelle also smiled until Klaus decided to accused them of lying then decided to say it was ridiculous for beginners such as them to earn a star on their first mission, which caused another argument between him and Asta as Yuno just stared blankly at the two.

"Come to think of it, I was told there were going to be three pf you, so where is your third member?" Klaus asked, moving into a new subject.

Both bulls recoiled from the question and tried to quickly think of an answer.

"Don't tell me they ran away or perhaps they became a victim of a trap spell?" Klaus smuggly asked.

"He didn't run away and he didn't die from a trap." Noelle said until Asta took over.

"Yeah, he sensed something funny in the dungeon and went to take care of it." Asta said, having confidence in Luck and not hoping he's just a maniac.

"Hmm! Whatever the case, any senior knight who leaves his allies behind is a coward. A standard Black Bull." Klaus insulted. "Your disgusting squad brings shame to the title of "Magic Knights."" he finished as Asta was near his boiling point and his magic was flaring up a bit.

"Oh yeah? Well just you wait! The Black Bulls are gonna clear this dungeon in no time!" Asta said before pointing to Klaus, "Wait and see, ya Golden Dogs! And that goes double for your boss with the weird helmet!"

Klaus didn't take to kindly to this and bitterly replied, "Enough! First you call us dogs and then you insult our illustrious leader?! HOW DARE YOU?!"

The two then got into their third argument, insulting each other in anyway they can. From their captains to their social standing, they took any blow they could get while to the side, Yuto just had a deadpan stare, Mimosa had a nervous smile, and Noelle displayed a look of shock.

"Enough of this foolishness!" Klaus said as he and Asta were breathing heavily from the yelling. "I'll show you the difference between the top squad and the dead last! Mimosa!" He finished as he turn to the Golden Dawn girl.

"Yes, sir." She said with a smile her grimoire floated out and glowed with magic power. **"Plant Creation Magic. Magic Flower Guide Post!"**

As the spell was cast, a coffee table sized flower emerged from the ground and showed a holographic display of the entire dungeon, which was three stories with a multitude of twists, turns, and stairs. This shocked Asta and Noelle as they stared in amazement at the map.

"Alight. Okay, good. I should be able to find the treasure trove with this, problem free." Mimosa said.

"Excellent, Yuno." Klaus said as he then ordered Yuno.

"Yes, sir." Yuno said as he opened his grimoire, summoning a mighty platform made of wind to carry the Golden Dawn members with the plant map.

Asta and Noelle watched in wonder as they flew into a path, leaving them to their own wits.

"Do your best, even if it's useless." Klaus commented as they left.

Asta couldn't help but smile as he watched them leave, "Good work, Yuno." He then turned to Noelle, "Alright, let's get to work!" he said as he started walking forward.

"Hey! Wait!" she said as she started walking as well.

'Whoever reaches the treasure hall first, wins the day. And I'm gonna reach it, no matter what!' Asta thought while Yuno was thinking the same thing.

-Timeskip-

After exploring several rooms and dealing with various traps, Asta, Nero, and Noelle are now running through a hall way, towards and unknown location, completely dark and trap free.

"Alright, I got a good feeling about this way!" Asta said while running.

Noelle was keeping up with the young dragon as she felt the mana in the air, 'It's getting thicker.' she thought.

"Are you sure the treasure room is up ahead?" She asked until she and Asta came to a halt.

"You feel that?" Asta asked.

"Yes, it radiating all around us. There must be a battle going on and Luck must be one of the ones fighting." Noelle said.

"Think he's fighting someone from the Diamond Kingdom? If it is, then we should go help him." Asta said as he walked towards her.

"Do we really need to? Luck loves fighting and we could keep going if we leave it to him." Noelle said, thinking of the importance of the mission.

Asta stood in silence as Noelle further discussed the possibilities of more Diamond Kingdom Mages being inside and heading for the treasure room.

"If you don't want Golden Dawn to get the credit, we need to hurry." Noelle finished as Asta stayed silent, unaware that he was thinking back to his family back at the church and the promise he and Yuno made to look after their friends.

Meanwhile, in another area of the dungeon, Luck was being restrained by black smoke magic, used by a Diamond Kingdom Mage with black hair and some facial hair by the name of Lotus Whomalt. This was not only preventing him from using his clawed gauntlets and boots made from lightning magic, it was also slowly suffocating him.

'Win, win, I have to win!' Luck thought as he stared at Lotus from his prison.

"Well, I guess that's it. That smoke has you all tied up. But maybe it's something more." Lotus said with s nonchalant smile on his face as he rubbed his chin.

'So close. I was so close.' Luck thought as he was remembering something or someone but couldn't find it. 'What was it I was looking for again?'

"You don't have to worry anymore, my boy." Lotus said as he raised his right hand. "Let me all those worries away."

Right as the Diamond Kingdom Mage was about to finish the battle crazy child off, a shout threw off his focus.

 **"Iron Dragon Roar!"**

A spiraling tornado of iron dust came barreling and blasted the smoke prison apart, causing Lotus to gain a look of shock as he turned to the source, which was Asta running to Luck with a look of determination on his face.

"Well well well, looks like another spirited fellow has come to join." Lotus said as he looked to see Asta standing next to a kneeling Luck. "Now, would you mind telling me who you are?"

"Who am I?" Asta said with a growl. "That's an easy question. I'm Luck's friend!"

As those three words were shouted, Luck just kneeled behind Asta as Noelle came running to Asta's side.

"We're your opponent's now, so bring it!" Asta shouted as he got in a battle stance.

"So, more of you are coming out to play? This should be fun." Lotus said as he stared at them, unaware of Luck having a flashback of his childhood.

The scene was black and red with a young Luck standing over what appeared to be a grave. He had tears rolling down his eyes but had an abnormal smile on his face, much to the discomfort of the people who came to see. They felt bad for luck but wouldn't comfort him due to the smile on his face when he should feel said over this great lose.

"This guy is mine." Luck said as he came out of memory lane and stood up on his feet, much to Noelle surprise.

"Wait." she said as Luck moved forward.

"He's mine." he said as he had a demented smile on his face. 'Win, I have to win for you, mom!' he thought as he shot forward.

While charging in to battle, Luck kept saying to himself that he didn't need friends to fine. That all he needed was his power and nothing else. Noelle begged him to let them help but he just replied,

"I have to do this to gain my mom's acceptance!"

Luck attacked Lotus with all he could but the smoke user just kept dodging. Lotus gained some distance before facing Luck and blasting more smoke towards to boy, it would've hit him if Asta didn't step in front of Luck and block the attack with the his iron sword.

"You may have to do what you gotta do, but I gotta do what I gotta do!" Asta said as the attack finished and he charged at Lotus.

"I have to beat him alone!" Luck said.

"Not gonna happen!" Asta said as he swung at Lotus but his attack missed.

Asta swung again but Lotus jumped back and blasted smoke towards Asta, who jumped back to dodge the attack.

"I don't know what you think and I don't care!" Asta said while created iron kunais and started launching them at Lotus, who retorted by blasting more smoke.

"But you don't have to fight alone! You have friends, people that will always have your back! So please," Asta continued as he dodged another smoke attack. He looked towards Lotus as he preparing a big ball of smoke to attack.

"Let us help!" Asta shouted before taking a deep breath and unleashing an iron tornado to counter the giant smoke ball Lotus launched.

Luck just stared with a blank smile as he thought on Asta's words. He realized he didn't need to fight alone, not when he had all the friends he made since he joined the Black Bulls.

'I guess you were wrong, mom.' Luck thought as he stood up and revealed his face, now back to it's normal smile. 'I'm not alone anymore.'


	16. Battle after Battle

**bulk Locke the the grim head: Thank you, my friend. And I will check that story out.**

With the battle between the smoke mage and the Black Bulls, Asta was preparing for another attack from Lotus, that is until Luck came in and slashed him away. The Diamond Kingdom mage gently floated away from the two as Luck turned to Asta with a kind smile.

"You're right, Asta! It sounds way more fun to fight together!" he said.

"You bet is does!" Asta replied with a smile while Noelle just shrugged it off but inside she was happy that her senior agreed to battle Lotus with them.

All three bulls were side by side and ready to fight, Luck's lightning gauntlet's were sparking with anticipation, Asta formed his iron sword on his right arm, and Noelle had her grimoire at the ready, confident she can help her two friends.

Lotus sighs before saying, "It looks like things have taken a bad turn for me, I guess it's time to get serious."

The man's grimoire then shined bright as a giant cloud of black smoke came flying out of his book and started surrounding the 3 Black Bulls.

 **"Smoke Creation Magic! Prison of the Fallen King!** Escape is impossible now, children. Only one person has ever escape this spell and lived to tell about, will you three be so lucky?" Lotus said as he was floating in the air and looking down on the bulls with the small, relaxed face.

"Hmph! That's the thing about us bulls, we refuse to lose to anyone and that include's people like you!" Asta said with a confident tone in his voice.

His sword's spikes started to spin as Asta and his fellow Black Bulls started to attack the smoke surrounding them. Asta and Luck slashed at the wall with their sword and claws while Noelle blasted it with a water bullet and the help of a wand she acquired to help focus her magic. Their effort was great but it failed to make a solid impact due to the smoke sealing up after every attack.

"Grr. This isn't working!" Asta said as a plume of smoke came firing at him. He took the attack but stood his ground. As the smoke stopped coming at him, he couldn't help but cough as he started to feel light headed. "Damn it."

'The room is filling up with smoke.' Noelle thought as she covered her mouth. 'If we don't do something soon, we'll suffocate. We need to defeat the caster before that happened'

As Noelle was thinking about the current situation, Luck was going about a statistic to end this. 'I can sense his power but if we attack, he'll just dodge. I gotta think about what I know about his fighting style so far.' He thought as he was recalling the battle he had with Lotus before Asta and Noelle show up. 'He's faster in the smoke and can pick up on magic power just as fast. Our best shot is to blind side him but he can sense our magic, so how can beat him?' Luck thought as he turned to the sound of Asta's sword.

The dragon slayer kept slashing at the magic smoke but was having little effect until he thought back to how he freed Luck when he arrived. Luck grew a smile as he went to Asta to tell him the risky plan he thought up. Meanwhile, back with Lotus, he too was thinking about the current situation.

'Thought this spell is effective, it uses a high amount of magical power. My youth may be behind me, but I can do this all day.' he thought. 'Though, I wish I could see them so I could end this quicker.' Lotus finished thinking before saying, "Don't be foolish and get any bright ideas. Since I can sense your power, a sneak attack would be pointless."

Lotus then sensed something and turned to his left, seeing a bright light shined through the smoke. On the other side, Asta was scarfing down a small bag of nails he brought with him and boosting his power as much as he could. He chewed as fast as he could while Noelle was watching in silence. Asta finished eating with a gulp as a smile grew, "OH YEAH! Now that's what I'm talking about!" he said as he gave off a bright light with the Iron Dragon's magic circle under his feet. "Now, let's end this creep!" Asta then took a deep breath, ignoring the small coughs due to the smoke and prepared his attack. Luck was at his right side and pointed towards were he could sense Lotus was floating, giving Asta a place to aim. **"Iron Dragon Roar!"**

The iron tornado attack blasted through the smoke and headed for Lotus but the man simply dodge to his left while the attack kept following him.

"Wow! I must say, that is an impressive attack but it just seems desperate. You'll never hit me with a move like that or clear to smoke, you'll just waste your power." Lotus said as he kept flying away from the attack with him facing it, unaware that they have something planned. "Ill comes down to experience and I have more of that than all of you."

Lotus' rant was soon interrupted when he felt something hit him in his left arm, he turn his head and saw Noelle was pointing her wand at him, with a water shot slowly charging up. It was then Lotus realized his mistake, he had been so focused on Asta's roar and it's magic power that he completely ignored Luck and Noelle but then that raised one question, where was Luck?

'Now, where did that boy-' His thought were stopped when Luck emerged from the iron tornado, covered in lightning magic to help protect him from the roar. 'Now I see, the first boy's attack was to distract me while the girl catches me by surprise and then the final one used the first one's own attack as a cover to finish me. Not bad, kids. Not bad.'

Luck then punched Lotus in the chest, launching him out of his smoke field and into a wall, allowing the smoke to clear and show the Black Bulls standing victorious.

"That went better than expected." Noelle said as she held he wand up.

"You were right, Asta. Teamwork is great!" Luck said with a smile as he discharged his magic.

Asta smiled at his friends before looking to see Lotus had slide down to the ground with smoke still around him. The young dragon slayer lost his smile as he approached the Diamond Kingdom Mage, who lost his smile and gained a worried look.

'Oh dear, they've really done a number on me. Feeble old man such as myself, I'm in no shape to continue.' He thought as he gained back his smile and clutched his left side. 'The Clover Kingdom has quite the gems to do this to me, like this boy right here.'

He looked towards Asta as he formed an iron kunai in his right hand. 'He has a enormous amount of power, yet he doesn't possess a grimoire. With all my experience, I've never meet a knight who didn't use a grimoire. If I'm going to be taken as their prisoner, I guess there's no other way.'

As Lotus finished his thought, his grimoire started to glow again as the pages turned and caused the smoke around him to form something. When the smoke clear, it had created a four wheel carriage with a chimney sticking out of the top. 'Time to run away.' Lotus thought as his carriage sped away from the bulls.

"HEY! Get back here!" Asta shouted as he, Noelle, and Luck, who reactivated his **Holy Lightning Boots,** gave chase to the somewhat cowardly, smoke mage.

Luck almost had the man in his grasp until the carriage blew him back with more smoke, forcing Luck to land. When the smoke cleared, Lotus was gone and the 3 Black Bulls were left in disappointment.

"Aw man, he got away!" ASta said as he and Noelle, who was breathing heavily from the running, caught up with Luck.

"Yeah, I was really looking forward to finishing the fight with him." Luck said as he turned Asta and Noelle. "But that's not the mission, so let's hurry and get to the treasure hall." He finished with a smile.

While Noelle was shocked at Luck's switch in priorities, Asta agreed and wanted to get to the hall. They were about to move until Luck sensed something as lightning seemed to dance around him.

"Oh, wow! I thought that guy was strong but there's someone even stronger here!" he said with a smile.

This worried Asta and Noelle, if Lotus was strong enough to need the three of them to defeat, then how strong was new mage? But that was a question for another time as the 3 rushed off to find this new threat.

-Timeskip-

After running as fast as they can, they came to an unexpected sight. The Golden Dawn members, Yuno, Mimosa, and Klaus, were at the mercy of a mage named Mars with silver, spikey hair, cold eyes, and 3 gems embedded in his forehead that was using what appeared to be diamond magic. Mimosa was in a cage of her own plant magic, most likely healing, Klaus was fighting a mineral replica of the mage, and Yuno was on his knees, about to be struck down with a giant, floating sword made of diamonds. As the mage brought to sword down, Asta bolted forward and summoned his magic power.

 **"Iron Dragon Scales!"**

Asta's body was soon covered in iron scales as he ran in front of Yuno, holding his arms up to stop the attack before it could hit. The Golden Dawns were shocked by this turn of event's as Asta pushed the sword upward, causing it to embed in the roof.

"Alright, you pale freak. Keep your hands off of Yuno." Asta said as he glared at the diamond mage. "Cause he is my rival!"

Yuno stared at Asta as a small smirk grew on his face. "Just when I repayed my debt, you come and do this." he mumbled as Asta turned to him.

"I can't believe this! Right when I catch up to you, you're almost killed!" he said as he pointed to Yuno. "You'd let someone like him beat you?!"

Yuno simply got to his feet and denied that he was about to be finished, much to Asta's dismay as the two then get into argument about the battle and completely ignoring Mars, who stared at them. The two then cease their argument and smile at each other, knowing that this was nothing new to them.

"Alright, how about this? Let's fight him together and see who beats him first." Asta said as he turned to Mars, who was holding his hand over the right side of his face for some reason. "Let's do this!"

As Klaus was watching from the side and worried about how they would be Mars, the mineral replica almost made it's way to Mimosa but was stopped by Luck. Klaus stared in surprised as he recalled seeing Luck.

'Is this Luck the Cherry Berserker, the mage who savagely beat his opponent in his exam?!' he thought as he felt a cold sweat. 'He the third mage that was sent with the previous two?!'

Klaus then had a silent breakdown at the thought of him, a noble, being rescued by the Black Bulls, a group of misfits. While this was going own, Noelle went over to her cousin and put up a protective water barrier around her, vowing to protect her.

'Thank you, Noelle.' Mimosa thought with a smile.

Back with Asta and Yuno, they stared down Mars as Asta asked why he's doing this.

"The weak fade while the strong remain, who cares if it's your business? It's simple nature." Mars said as his grimoire, which looked to be half red and half white stitched together, glowed and multiple mineral clones appeared.

"He can create that many at once?!" Klaus said in surprise as Luck looked in envy and excitement.

"The battlefield is where power rules and the weak have no place there. That is the reason I was born, to destroy weak people like you." Mar finished as he stared down Asta and Yuno.

"Well then, come on!" Asta said before he charged and Mars and reeled his scaled fist back. "Just try and destroy me!"

Asta threw his fist at Mars, only for it to be a mineral clone while the real one was in the air and had a giant, diamond sword ready.

"With pleasure." Mars replied as he brought the diamond blade down.

The young dragon slayer meet his challenge and propelled himself upward with the help of an iron club extending from his right leg. Asta blocked the blade with his arms before flipping and landing on it.

 **"Iron Dragon..."** , he said as he ran toward Mars again and used the diamond blade to help propel himself in the air.

 **"Hard Fist!"**

Asta struck Mars in his chest and launched him into the ceiling, creating a smoke screen. The diamond mage used this to his advantage and launched giant, crystal boulder towards Asta, who landed and dodge them before taking a breath.

 **"Iron Dragon Roar!"**

The blast took Mars be surprise as it hit him dead on but didn't phase him as he flew towards Asta with his left hand coated in crystal to attack. Asta saw this and meet the attack with his own attack.

 **"Iron Dragon Club!"** Asta's right arm turned into an iron column as it clashed with Mars' hand, causing a deadlock until it extended and pushed Mars back and knocked him into the water.

Asta stood strong as he retracted his club but kept his scales up. Everyone stared in surprise of the short but impressive exchange between the two.

"Wow, Asta's so lucky to take him on. I wanted to fight him, but" Luck said as he charged towards the mineral clones. "I guess then guys will do!"

Luck let out a happy laugh as he and Yuno destroyed the clones while Klaus was looking with jealousy and frustration.

'How? I don't see a grimoire but this commoner somehow has incredible mana and matching the enemy! How can he do this?!' he thought as he didn't notice a mineral clone about to attack him until it was hit by a water spell.

"Please, stop looking like that and accept it already." Noelle said as Klaus turned to her. "Look, Asta's power is like nothing anyone has ever see. He possess the power of a dragon within him."

"A dragon?!" Klaus said. "But a commoner shouldn't be able to wield power such as that. Perhaps, he only acquired it through luck and nothing more." he finished as he adjusted his glasses.

"Maybe or maybe it was something more? Just by watching him, you can get your answer." Noelle said as she looked in Asta's direction.

The dragon boy looked towards the water as he saw Mars' grimoire floating above the surface. "Come on out! I know you're not done, so bring it!"

The grimoire just floated as it gave a bright light and the room shook like an earthquake was happening. Crystals started to emerge from the the water and form something as a wave of them came at Asta. The young dragon held them back with all his might until they overwhelmed him and crushed him.

"ASTA!" Yuno shouted as something started to come up from the water.

That something was soon shown to be Mars inside of a giant body made of crystals. The body removed what appeared to be it's arm off of Asta, who's scales were cracked with the right side of his shirt torn to shreds. His scales then disappeared to show he was bleeding from his forehead and right shoulder as Mars glared at him.

"Tell me, boy! Just what are you?!" Mars asked as he stood over Asta, who shakily rose to his feet.

"I'll tell ya, since you asked." Asta said while breathing heavily. "A guy who was without magic for the first 15 years of my life."

"What?! 15 year?!" Klaus said in shock.

"It wasn't until one day, I found an old book that gave me my power. And gave me a new hope to achieve my dream." he said.

"I see, then it was just luck that he-" Klaus bite his tongue as he saw Asta's reach for a small bag in his pocket and pour nails into his mouth.

"But that doesn't matter now." Asta mumbled as he started chewing the remainder of his nails. "Cause I'm still gonna be the Wizard King!" he said before he swallowed and gained more power. "I'll fight with everything I have to make it happened, and nothing it gonna stop me."

A golden glow surrounded Asta as he looked Mars in the eyes. "Especially you!"

Klaus stared in shock that the slight of how strong Asta's body was. 'His body, Just how long has be trained to get that way?! Could he, a commoner, really become the Wizard King?'

Everyone looked in suspense as the glow around Asta died down and he stared down Mars, who was having a flashback to his childhood. He started to shake as he said with a shout,

"I live only to rid this world of the weak!" he said as he moved forward.

"Oh yeah, well the Wizard King protects all of his people! The weak and the strong!" Asta shouted.

Mars said nothing as he raise the right hand of his giant crystal body, ready to kill Asta.

"I not gonna lost to some like you!" Asta shouted as he summoned his magic. **"IRON DRAGON SCALES!"**

Klaus and Mimosa stared in shock while Noelle, Luck and Yuno stared with smile as Asta's body was covered in iron scales one again.

Mars glared at Asta with a desire to kill as the battle was about to commence. "Disappear from my path, pebble!"

"I might be a pebble but," Asta started as he launched himself to Mars. "Who says a pebble can't shatter a diamond?!"

Asta focused as much power as he could into his right fist and gave a mighty roar as he delivered his attack. **"IRON DRAGON HARD FIST!"** he struck Mars' chest with everything he had as the crystal body shatter from the force. Mars fell to the ground as Asta landed over him, breathing heavily while everyone looked in shock at the awesome feat the just happened. Yuno smiled as he recalled a childhood memory of them training as Asta tucked his arms in and roared to the heavens.

"RRRRRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"


	17. Treasure Hall, Dark Surprise

**papapryce: Thanks, pap.**

 **bulk Locke the the grim head: Thanks for the compliment.**

With the fight with Mars completed, the Black Bulls and Golden Dawns were assembled in front of the giant doors of the treasure hall and were ready to enter and claim the rewards within but not before Klaus had restrain Mars by covering his entire upper body in steel restrains.

"There, he won't be getting out of those for a while." Klaus said as he adjusted his glasses and held Mars' grimoire in his left hand.

Even with the man captured and contained, everyone couldn't help but worry about him breaking out due to the immensely powerful display they all saw.

"You sure that'll be enough to hold him?" Asta, who lowered his scales, asked in worry as Nero sat on his head.

"I have no question it will!" Klaus said in annoyance, even though he was silently impressed with Asta and his power. "I can guarantee an injured mage such as him will not break my bondage spell. Plus, I have his grimoire in hand." he finished with showing Asta the grimoire he took from Mars.

"Alright, alright, I'll take your word." Asta said with a smile.

Mimosa then decided to speak, after healing herself from one of Mars' earlier attacks, "I'm so glad that no one was injured too severely." she said with a relived smile.

"That may be true but are you sure you should be moving already?" Noelle asked in concern.

"Oh yes, it's fine. It's thanks to you that I was able to fix most of my injuries. Thank you very much for protecting me, Noelle." Mimosa said.

"Yes, well, I could leave someone as light headed as you on her own, now could I?" she replied as a small blush came to her face.

Mimosa ignored the harsh comment, knowing that Noelle didn't mean it, and replied, "Regardless, you have my gratitude."

"Yes yes, alright but Asta, can you fix yourself already?" Noelle said as she saw that half of Asta's shirt was ripped and gone.

"Well, I can't really do anything about it. Especially my robe." Asta said as he saw the Black Bull robe he earned was in bad condition. "I need to have Vanessa fix this or Magna's gonna kill me."

"Well worry about that later." Luck said with his usual positivity.

While the two bulls were discussing Asta's wardrobe situation, Klaus was having a little time to his thoughts. 'I still cannot believe we had assistance from the Black Bulls.' he then finished his thoughts as he remembered something that was said earlier. " As expected, we, the Golden Dawn, have reached the treasure hall first. Ergo, proving us to be the superior squad, but seeing as you aided us in defeating the enemy, you may be allowed to accompany us to the riches that lie behind those doors." Klaus finished as he gestured to the doors of the target hall.

This didn't sit well with the Black Bulls, as the senior Dawn made it sound like they needed his permission to go into the treasure hall when they have more than earned it. This especially didn't sit well with a certain dragon slayer.

"Are you series?" Asta said as he walked up to Klaus. "Could you be anymore stuck up?! A simple "thank you" for helping would've been nice."

Before Klaus couldn't retort Asta's behavior, the boy moved past him and walked towards the hall doors.

"We don't need your permission to enter treasure hall, we've earned more than enough, so come on!" Asta said as he looked back to everyone. "Let's claim whatever's inside for the Clover Kingdom and all it's magic knights!"

Everyone agreed and made their way to the front of the door, hoping to find a way to open it and enter.

"There should be some sort of cipher nearby. We just need to find it." Klaus said, theorizing a way to get in.

"So, where is it? I don't see anything nearby that looks like a cipher." Asta said as he looked around the door until his attention was drawn to Luck, who walked towards the door and placed his hand upon it.

"Hmmm." Luck hummed as he sensed for anything in the door. After a few seconds, he turned to everyone and explained what he discovered. "It looks like the door is made of magic. All we need to door is break through or counter it."

"Alright, should be easy enough!" Asta said as he stepped forward.

"Please, even if your magic is impressive, it can't be enough to break through such magic as this." Klaus said as he doubted Asta could break through.

Asta turned his head to Klaus and said, "Well, I won't know until I try!" He turned his head back to the door and closed his eyes to focus.

He took deep breathes and exhaled as he thought of another powerful spell like the one he used in the Magic Knights Exam.

"Hey, Yuno, remember what I did back at the exam?" Asta asked as he opened his eyes.

Yuno thought back to a few months ago and recalled to powerful attack he used in the end. "Yes, you called it a **"Dragon Slayer Secret Art."** "

Asta laughed a bit and turned his head to his brother, "Yeah but let me ask you this. Did you think that I had more than one?"

Yuno was taken a bit back by this as Asta crouched down and gathered as much power as he could.

"GGGGRRRRRR! **Dragon Slayer Secret Art!** " Asta then clapped his hands over his head and a bright light flashed, blinding everyone as they heard a low growl. When the light died, down, they saw the a giant sword had been made above Asta's head, reaching the halfway point of the doors.

"WOW!" Luck said.

'Amazing!' Noelle and Mimosa thought.

"I-impossible, how can you have this much power left?!" Klaus said in shock.

Yuno gained a shocked look before smirked as he silently watched his brother.

 **"Karma Demon!"** Asta said as he jumped into the air. **"Iron God Sword!"** Asta shouted as he swung the mighty sword down sideways, clashing it with the giant doors.

The impact created a vertical slash mark the spread across and caused light to leak out of the cracks. After dispelling his sword, Asta landed with a smirk on his face, admired his handy work in getting in to the treasure chamber. The light started to grow brighter as the doors started to crumble into giant boulders of rubble as everyone covered their eyes. When the dust died down, everyone stared in amazement at the massive amount of treasure that lied before them with jewels, gold, and priceless antiques filled the room.

"WOAH!" Asta said in amazement. "It's amazing! Look at all this treasure!"

Everyone silently agrees as they all stare in shocked of the riches that lie before them. After a few seconds of waiting, everyone stormed in and observed the bounty. This went on for a good minute until everyone's attention was drawn to a bright green light drawing all their attention, when the light died down, everyone was able to see that it was Yuno, holding a strangely blank scroll. As this went on, Asta attention was drawn to Nero, who was pulling on his hair.

"Ow, ow ow! What is it, Nero?!" Asta siad as he pulled his head away as the bird started flying in towards the wall, wanting Asta to follow until he saw a strange, gold disk or mirror hanging from the wall.

"Huh, what's this?" Asta said as he got closer. He was about to place his hand on it until he heard a shout.

"Everyone! Get back!" Luck said in a panic.

Asta turned his head in time to see the piles of rubble that used to be the door were blown away and created a cloud of dust, when the cloud clear, it revealed Mars, broken free from his steel bondage and inside his giant crystal body again. Crystals started to spread across the floor, trapping Yuno, Luck and Klaus.

'How can this be?' Klaus thought. 'My magic should've held him! So how is he' His thoughts ceased when he saw flames dancing around Mars' body. 'Impossible, flame recovery magic? But only one attribute from fire, earth air, and water can be bestowed upon a mage but him, he can well two types. How?'

Klaus then focused his eyes and layed them upon the 3 jewels that were embedded in Mars' forehead. 'Those jewels, I heard rumors of the Diamond Kingdom experimenting on children to give them more power, could this, could be be a result of that?'

As Klaus was deducing this, Mars turned his attention to Noelle and Mimosa, the former having prepared her wand with a water attack, most likely aiming to put out his recover spell. Mars could have that so before the shot was taken, he attack with a crystal punch, forcing her back with a bloody gash on her chest.

"Noelle, no!" Mimosa said as Asta saw this as well.

"YOU BASTARD!" he said as he glared at Mars. **"Iron Dragon Scales!"**

He summoned his iron scales before charging at Mars, with a look of rage on his face as he wanted to make him pay.

"Now, I understand your magic. It's mostly base on your physical prowess, strength, and speed." Mars said as his grimoire glowed and summoned crystal daggers. "But how much can your body endure before it slows down?"

The crystal daggers than spun at high speeds and launched themselves at Asta, who summoned magic circles to his hands.

 **"Iron Dragon Kunai Metal Storm!"**

Multiple kunai formed in Asta's hands before he threw at to counter the crystal daggers. Some succeeded but the rest failed and forces Asta to dodge until he realized they were to fast and force him on the defensive, raising his arms and letting the scales on his body take the hits.

'Too fast! But that's not gonna stop me!' Asta thought as he took a breath. **"Iron Dragon Roar!"**

Asta then unleashed his breath attack and caused the daggers to fly away from him before turning his sight back to Mars, who began charging at him.

 **Iron Dragon Hard Fist!"** Asta shouted as he threw his right fist.

"RAAHH!" Shouted Mars as he brought his crystal body's right fist.

Their attack clashed and unleashed a gust of wind as they became deadlocked. Asta pulled his other fist back before shouting and delivering another punch, that Mars countered. Both mages kept this up until they both unleashed a barrage of fists, wanting nothing more than to overpower the other, this went on for a few moments until Asta felt his scales crack, causing him to grunt in pain and recoil.

'Dammit! My scales!' Asta thought as he looked and saw another crystal punch was coming, forcing him to block and be launched back into the wall he was looking at earlier, smashing through it and revealing a hidden room.

"GUUHHH!" Asta let out as he skid across the floor before coming to a stop and lowering his spell out of exhaustion.

As Asta laid there with his eyes closed, Mars approached the hole in the wall he made when he knocked Asta back while repeatedly saying, "Only the strong survive."

His attention was then diverted towards the sound and sight of Mimosa, who was trying to heal Noelle. As Mars was watching and approaching, Asta was left to his thoughts as he got up from the ground.

"He's right, I can only take and give so much until I slow down. I gotta find a way to counter that like he did to me." His thoughts were interrupted as Nero flew into the room and landed on a orb filled with moving shadows that was lying on a pedestal.

"Huh?" Asta let out as his eyes went white and he saw a lone figure standing in front of a giant beast with wings that looked like it was made of iron. The figure turned around to show a male with long, unkempt black hair and piercing all over his face, smiling at him as a flash showed the guy on the ground and absorbing something black into his body. Another flashed shinned as it show the man with a demonic like appearance and black mist coming off of his body. The final flash brought Asta back to the real world as Nero was still sitting on the orb of shadows.

"I-I get it." Asta said as he smiled from what he just experience. He got onto his feet and grabbed to orb, causing Nero to fly off and sit on the pedestal. Asta looked into the orb and focused on what he needed to do, "Alright, here goes!"

Asta lifted the orb above his head before throwing it to the ground, causing the shadows to be released. He then started to inhale the shadows in his mouth as his body also started to absorb them.

Meanwhile, Mars was standing in front of Mimosa, who was wearing an attire made of plants, and Noelle, who was still being healed. He readied my crystal daggers as he said one again, "Only the strong survive."

The daggers spun and were ready to kill until everyone heard a loud breaking sound, Mars stopped the dagger from spinning as he turned around as and suddenly felt a large amount of magical power. He saw that Asta was stepping out of the room he was knocked in but saw that he was drastically different. His skin looked as if it was made shining metal with shadows dancing around it and his eyes had turned pure white and demonic, it was as if everyone was staring at a demon. Asta looked towards Mars with a demonic smile as he said, **"Iron Shadow Dragon Mode."**

"What?! Where did this power come from?!" Mars said in shocked.

Asta didn't reply as he lunged himself as Mars' who launched crystal daggers at him but before they could hit, Asta sank into the ground causing everyone to look in shock.

"How? Where is he?!" Mars said as he look around but failed to notice a shadow slipping under him. He turned around and saw that Asta was right in front of him and punched him in the face, forcing him to stumble away from Asta, who was now standing in front Noelle and Mimosa.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but our fight's not done yet!" Asta said as he ran towards Mars, who launched more daggers to stop him.

Asta dodged the daggers by becoming a shadow again before popping up in front of Mars, landing another punch on his right check. "That's another one!" he said.

"Begone!" Mars shouted as he attack with his giant crystal fist.

Asta took the attack but quickly transformed into a shadow again and slipped around his fist. He slide around the crystal armor and emerged from the front, hang on to the armor.

"Surprise!" Asta said as he threw punch after punch to Mars body, causing significant damage.

The dragon slayer then jumped back from Mars' next attack and landed in front of Mimosa and Noelle, watching as the damage he did was slowly healing.

'Looks like my attacks didn't hurt him but that's not gonna stop me!' Before he made his move he heard a faint voice.

"It looks like there's even more to your power than I thought, insect."

Asta turned his head to see Noelle was awake and straining to say something to him.

"Please, don't. You need to rest." Mimosa said.

"You're awake." Asta said in relief.

"Listen, you are a commoner but you are to first commoner I have ever accepted." Noelle said as she got her head up to look at Asta. "Now, don't you dare lose to him, do you understand?"

Asta stared for 3 seconds before smiling, "I wasn't planning on losing any way but thanks for the reminder. This next hit's gonna be from the both of us!" he finished as he turned back to Mars, who looked furious.

"You will not win! The weak can never defeat the strong!" he said as he charged at Asta.

"Who said the weak couldn't?! As long as they stay together, stay with the ones they care about then their never weak!" Asta said as he took a deep breath, bringing all the shadow magic around him into his mouth.

"It's over!" Mars said as he launch spinning dagger at him.

"Yeah, it is! **Iron Shadow Dragon ROOOOOOAAAAR!** " Asta shouted as he unleashed a bright blast that destroyed Mars' daggers before aiming for him.

Mars raised the crystal body's arms to block but it proved futile as he was knocked back. As the dust from the impact clear, Asta was breathing heavily as he stared at the blasted, unconscious Mars while everyone else was left shocked.

'What is this? I thought his magic was only iron, but shadows as well?!' Klaus thought.

'No way, how did-' Luck thought as he look towards to the room Asta was thrown in and saw broken glass on the floor. 'Did he...eat what was in that glass?'

'What is his power? I was told it was that of a dragon but this.' Klaus thought as they all saw Asta's body return to normal.

"He, got ya. Looks like I'm not as weak as you thought." Asta said before falling to the ground on his hands and knees. "That's it, I'm all out of power." he let out as he turned to Noelle and Mimosa, and gave them a thumbs up. "But I got him."

Everyone just stared at the young wizard as Yuno was thinking, 'Asta, it looks like you're more ahead of me than I thought.' he them smiled as he finished his thought. 'But that doesn't mean I'm not going to catch up to you.'

Unaware to everyone, Mars had groaned a bit before his eyes shot open, full of rage.


	18. End of a Dungeon Crawl

**bulk Locke the the grim head: Thank you, dear reader.**

 **Solartiger: Thank you very much.**

 **Amaterasu: Of course, you can't include Iron Magic without adding something to make it even stronger. And don't worry, I'll update Boy of Time when I have time.**

 **Guest: I like it but I'm not a miracle worker.**

As Asta rested on the ground, he felt a wave of relief wash over him that the battle was over or so he thought, when his enhanced hearing picked up on someone breathing. Not just any breathing, anger and intent to kill were present as Asta turned his head to the source but couldn't believe his eyes. Mars, still in his crystal body, was standing and glaring down at Asta.

"I, I will never lose to some who wastes their power on the weak." Mars said as he took a step forward. "Those who chose this, are destined to fall like the weaklings that they protect."

"Damn it!" Asta said as he struggled to stand up, only to immediately fall to left knee.

"It's not possible." Noelle, who was completely heal and sitting up, whispered under her breath.

Mimosa just stared at the man as she heard Klaus voice his response.

"Impossible!" he said, with him, Luck, and Yuno still encased in crystals.

"He's still moving?" Luck asked to no one.

"Give up, you pathetic child!" Mars said as his glare intensified at Asta. "You were doomed the moment you challenged me!"

He then raised his crystal body's hand and a giant, crystal sword formed, waiting to finish Asta off in one swing.

"Asta!" Yuno shouted as he tried to break from of his restraints using his wind magic.

'Drat, this is not good!' Klaus thought as he looked towards Mars. 'But at least Asta's last roar attack canceled out his flame recovery magic. If we could strike him with enough power just once more, we could end this.'

Luck was also trying to escape his crystal restraints using his lightning magic but need more time. 'Come on, just a bit more.' He thought as he pour more magic power into breaking out. He stopped for a moment as he heard Mars' voice once more.

"Time to die." he said as he brought his sword down on Asta, who tried to summon even the tiniest bite of magic to block.

It was in that moment, Yuno broke free of his restraints and scanned his grimoire for any spell that could stop Mars.

'I need something, any thing that can save Asta!' He thought as the pages of his grimoire kept flipping. 'I won't let my rival die like this!'

As if it understood his plea, the four leaf clover grimoire released a bright, green light and illuminated the room. When the light died down, it showed that everyone was slowed to almost a pause, except Yuno himself, who looked around and took in the action he committed.

'Ho-how did I?' Yuno thought as he look to his left and saw, what he could only describe as, a fairy with a light green dress with green hair on her head and small wings sticking out her back. She yawned as if she was awoken from a sleeping state and looked around the area until she laid her eyes upon Mars and his diamond magic. The fairy then opened her hand and blew what appeared to be some sort of dust towards the mage but upon contact, something baffling happened.

The crystal sword and body Mars created shattered in an instant as everything seemed to returned to normal and Mars was sent flying into the wall. Everyone was surprised by this turned of events as Mars fell to the ground and the crystals he made started to disappear.

"Yuno defeated him?" Klaus said as he went to his junior. "Yuno, what happened, how did you defeat him?"

"Yeah, what was that? A new magic?" Luck asked as he went to Yuno as well.

"I-I don't know." Yuno answered as he looked around. "But there was this tiny person, a fairy I think."

"A fairy?" Klaus asked as he stepped closer to Yuno. "You must be tired, I don't know what spell you used but it must've took a lot out of you to make you see things. We can discuss this later." he finished as he placed a trusting hand on Yuno's right shoulder. "He out for good this time, we can relax."

As Yuno was starting to relax, Asta was being heal a bit by Mimosa and was gaining his strength back.

"Thanks, I appreciate it." He said as he was getting on his feet.

Before Mimosa could reply, the treasure room started to fall apart with crack appearing on the floor and ceiling alarming everyone. If this was happening here, then it could be happening to the rest of the dungeon as well.

"Well, this is wonderful." Klaus said sarcastically as he watched the room fall a part, literally. "Another trap spell?"

"We need to get out of here, before the ceiling caves in." Yuno said as he cast a spell from his grimoire. **"Celestial Wind Arc!"**

In mere moments, a boat of wind appeared with Yuno standing on top of it. "Everybody, get on now!" he said as everyone started to run for the creation of wind. Asta took a few steps until his eyes locked upon a down Mars and stopped, causing Noelle to draw her gaze upon him.

"What are you waiting for? We have to leave!" she said to him.

"I know but we can't leave him behind, even if he is our enemy!" Asta said as he ran to Mars.

"Are you mad!?" Klaus said as he saw this from atop the arc of wind.

"He may have tried to kill us but he was sent here for the same reason we were!" Asta shouted. "He came here for his kingdom because he cares for something other than himself and I refuse to leave someone like that behind!"

Asta kept running as he dodged some chunks of the ceiling and made it to Mars, only for two chunks of roof to collapse on him.

"No!" Asta said as he stopped in front of the rubble.

"There's no time, we must go!" Klaus said as he and everyone saw this.

Asta looked back and forth between them and begrudgingly agree before running to the arc and jumping aboard. When Asta landed on the arc, Mimosa started to pick up where she left off and heal him further. Yuno then went to work and flew the arc out of the treasure room and looked for a way out, knowing that Mimosa couldn't heal Asta and guide them out with the amount of magic she had left. His prayers were soon answers as Luck spoke up.

"I can guide us out!" Luck said as he pointed to his right. "Take this right, now!"

"Got it!" Yuno said with a nod as he steered his wind vessel.

As the wind arc was making it way through the escape route, chunks of the kept falling and trying to stop them but this was easily dealt with as Luck, Klaus, and Noelle used their respective magics to destroy the rocks.

'There's the exit!' Yuno thought as he saw a tunnel with a bit of light coming from it.

He flew the arc as fast as it could go as the dungeon started to crumble even faster and before they knew it, everything came down. On the outside, everything was quiet until a steel spear burst out of the wreckage, allowing the arc and everyone on it to escape into the light of the setting sun.

"We made it." Noelle said with a smile.

"Yeah." Asta agreed.

"Thank goodness." Mimosa said.

"Well, that was sure fun." Luck said with a smile, having loved the sense of danger.

"Insane boy." Klaus commented.

As Yuno flew his wind arc away from the remains of the dungeon, they all failed to notice that Lotus was also out of the wreckage, with 3 subordinates, Mars, and a generous pile of treasure, which he must've acquired while Mars was fighting, in his smoke cart. The man kept the same relaxed smile on his face as he turned his smoke cart around and flew back to the Diamond Kingdom.

-Timeskip, night-

After landing his wind arc, the Black Bulls and Golden Dawns were standing the ruined of a stone house and relaxing a bit from the adventure they had.

"Well, that was sure something." Asta said as he rolled his shoulder with Nero on his head before turning to Mimosa. "Thanks for healing my wounds for me. I don't know if I'd be able to stand if it wasn't for you." he said giving the girl a smile.

Mimosa then suddenly blushed a bit and took refuge behind Noelle a bit as she gave her response. "Sure, it was no problem."

"You know, I thought you were gonna die before we got to fight but what you did in the dungeon threw that thought away!" Luck said, recalling Asta's transformation back in the dungeon.

"No chance, I won't be dying anytime soon." Asta replied as he turned to face Yuno. "Not until I become the Wizard King."

Yuno just smiled and shook his head at this claim. "Poor, Asta. Sorry to say but I am going to become the Wizard King."

The dragon slayer just smiled back as Yuno until he started walking past Yuno but stopped for a moment.

"Why are you using me as a crutch?" The 4 leaf clover wizard asked, losing his smile.

"Give me a break, I'm low energy. I just need a little iron and I'll outta your hair." Asta replied, keeping his smile.

"You two." Klaus said drawing everyone's attention.

"Sir?" Yuno said as Asta got off his shoulder.

"I-I just wanted to say this." Klaus said as he approached the two before suddenly hugging them. "Please forgive me!"

Luck, Noelle, and Mimosa looked in surprise as Klaus, a noble and proud man, was hugging two commoners while apologizing to them.

"Due to your beginnings, I unfairly rejected you both and for that, I am sorry." he then hugged tighter as he continued, "You two are excellent knights! And the Clover Kingdom Order is lucky to have you."

No one said a thing as the hug continued for a few moments until Yuno made his voice heard.

"Um, sir." he said drawing Klaus' attention. "Not that we don't appreciate this but-"

"Your hugging us a little too tight, four eyes." Asta said, finishing Yuno's opinion.

Klaus released them from his hug as he began to complain to Asta, "That again? After everything I said, you still call me that?"

Asta chuckled a bit before replying, Just kidding, you need to lighten up a bit, Klausy boy."

"Klausy boy? Really? Where is the respect!?" Klaus complained.

"I'm afraid that this is Klaus' natural state, nothing can change that." Mimosa said before she laughed into her hand a bit.

Luck then raised his hand and asked something he thought was important, "Hey, Yuno, wanna have a battle? Come on let's go!"

"No thank you." Yuno quickly said as Luck made his way to stand in front of him.

Asta chuckled a bit at the scene until he caught of glimpse of Noelle's clothing, seeing it was tore up the middle of her chest.

"Hey, Noelle." Asta shouted drawing her attention. "Looks like we're both having a bad wardrobe day, huh?"

This caused Noelle to look down at her shirt and see a large tear, revealing a bit of her chest and cleavage. What lead after this was Noelle screaming in embarrassment, Klaus to have a bit of blood gush from his nose, and Noelle to charge at Asta and thrust a water covered fist into his stomach, causing him to keel over a bit and land on his knees.

"And he's down." Luck commented as Mimosa approached with worry.

"Are you alright?" she said as went.

Noelle, after realizing what she just did back up 2 steps and apologized.

"I'm sorry!" she said as she kneeled down to his eyes level.

"Please be okay." said Mimosa as she kneeled down as well.

Asta look up from the ground and chuckled a bit in Noelle direction as Luck, Klaus with a hanker chief to his nose, and Luck watched from a short distance. Mimosa and Noelle had smile to see he was okay until Noelle change her face to a neutral look with a small blush.

"Look away, you creep." she said before slapping him in the face, causing a yelp of pain to escape.

As Asta held his injured cheek, he shared one last small with Yuno before heading back to base with Luck and Noelle. With another adventure under his belt and a new power at his disposal, Asta's journey to become the Wizard King is another step closer and nothing is going to stop him until he reaches it.


	19. Meeting the King, Royal Mess

**Solartiger: Thanks.**

 **bulk Locke the the grim head: Thanks and the wait is over.**

The sun rose bright and shining over the Black Bulls base as the knights are currently having breakfast in the mess hall but as things were going smoothly, a sudden shout rang through the room.

"A WEEK?! I'VE BEEN SLEEPING FOR A WEEK?!" Asta said in surprise as all the members were gathered at the same table.

"Unbelievable." Noelle mutter as she sat next to Asta and looked the other direction. "Must you be so dramatic?"

Vanessa just laughed a bit and said, "Oh, don't mind her, she was just worried to death about you. I lost count of how many times she checked in on you."

"I-I have no idea what you're insinuating. I was just curious if he would die in his slumber, that's all." Noelle said as she quickly tried to deny what her superior was claiming.

"Hate to break it to you, but that's call worrying." Finral said as he put his drink down.

"Anyway, thank's for checking in on me, Noelle." Asta said as he chewed on a piece of iron with Nero on his head.

Grey simply releases some smoke from his mouth while Gordon mumbled, "I'm glad that you're okay and made it back save and sound."

Asta heard this and gave Gordon a thumbs up, signaling that his voice was heard and appreciated.

"Well, a man needs his rest." Magna said. "It's not everyday you conquer a dungeon and defeating crazy, strong opponent can take it out of ya."

"Well a week is a bit much if you ask me." Noelle shot back.

"Enough of this mindless dribble." Gauche said as his nose bleed a little. "Think of my sweet sister, would she enjoy this dull talk. Not one bit." he continued as he held up a picture of his little sister, Marie. "I need an interesting story to tell her, I'm running low at 3,210."

"That's not enough?" Finral said as tried not to make a certain face.

The conversation soon returned to the previous topic as Luck turned his head to face Asta. "So, recharged yet? Can we have a fight soon, huh? I really wanna!" he said as he gave three jabs to the air.

"Sorry, but I don't think I'm back to full strength yet." Asta replied as he held his stomach. "Or it's just my gut isn't full yet."

As if the gods answered his prayers, Charmy leading a herd of magical sheep cooks marched in the room carrying several plates of food, half of which were possibly for herself.

"Hope you guys are hungry, cuz the **Sheep's Cook Breakfast** has arrived!" she said with a smile and her grimoire floating in front of her.

With that said and the food brought, everyone enjoyed a filling breakfast of the most important food group a Black Bull should have, meat. Pity the sweet sound of eating was interrupted by their captain, Yami kicking down a door just to make himself known.

"Chow time then back to sleep." Yami said with his usual cigarette in his mouth.

The rest of the bulls greeted their destructive captain as he took his seat at the head of the table.

"Well, looks like you're finally awake. Didn't kick the bucket yet, huh?" he said.

Nope, still here, sir." Asta replied.

Yami released some smoke from his mouth before saying, "Well, good job, kid. Even if you almost got killed."

Asta replied, "Thank you, sir!" while Yami just laughed.

"Now, down to business. HQ wants a report on the dungeon and since you're back to full power, you're tagging along."

"Huh?" Asta let out in confusion.

"A report?" Noelle added.

-Timeskip 1 hour-

After decided who went with who to give the report and giving side missions to the rest, Asta, Noelle, and Nero, who was sitting on Asta's head again, were making their way towards the gates of the Royal Capital, trying to keep a respectable appearance in such a high class place. While walking the two bulls ran into the 3 people they fought along side with in the dungeon a week ago, Klaus, Yuno, and Mimosa.

"Oh, hey it's the Golden Dawn. Hello." Asta said to them as he tried to keep his amazement towards the capital in check.

"Why hello Asta, we haven't seen each other since the dungeon." Klaus said as he steps forward. "How are you? I assume you're doing better since you're here to give you report too?"

"Yeah, still a bit sore but plenty bed rest will fix that up in no time." Asta replied with a smile.

"How childish." Yuno muttered, much to Asta's annoyance and twitching eyebrow.

"Really, Yuno?! We're the same age!" he said until he laid his eyes upon a quite Mimosa. "Oh hey, thanks again for healing me back there, it meant a lot, Mimosa." he gave a smile as he finished, though to his surprise the girl just turned and run away a bit.

"What was that about?" he mumbled to himself as Yuno gave an answer.

"Your arm must be shorter than she thought it'd be. It might be a natural response." he said.

Now Asta was starting to get angry as he turn to look up at Yuno. "Do I need to bust out my sword!?" the young dragon yelled as he held his left arm up.

"If you think it'll help." Yuno mumbled as he and Asta started to argue while Noelle went to see if her cousin is alright, only to find out a shocking piece of truth escaped from her mouth.

"You-you have feelings for him?!" Noelle said with a blush on her face.

"I-I think but I'm not sure! Ever since the dungeon, I haven't been able to think about anything but Asta." Mimosa said as she tried to cover her blushing face. "I don't know what to do, especially since I just ran from him."

"Bu-bu-bu-but he's a commoner." Noelle tried to argue with a blush of her own. "He's short, dim, loud! He's a mess!"

Mimosa just giggled a bit before replying, "I know but I actually find that charming. He's so lively and free, it's-it's" she went on as Noelle just stared with her mouth gaping.

"No, no, it couldn't be someone like him!" she said while she thought, 'What am I doing? Why am I trying to make her lose interest in him?' she kept thinking until one thought caused her to go into denial. 'Am I fal-NO! Not with the likes of him!'

As the two girls squealed at the thoughts going on in their heads, Klaus, Yuno, and Asta, who finished their argument, gazed upon the girls with confusion and interest.

"What's all the fuss about?" Klaus asked.

"I don't know, maybe they're sick or something?" Asta said, trying to answer the Dawn's question.

With their conversations behind them and the task remembered, the Bulls and Dawns walked to find the Knight's Head Quarters so they may give their reports. After walking for an unknown amount of time, they arrived at what they assumed to be the right building and were planning to enter until they saw someone standing at the entrance, someone who sent Klaus, Mimosa, and Noelle into mild shock.

"C-could it be?" Klaus let out before getting on one knee and lowering his head. "It's an honor to be personally greeted by you, sir."

Noelle and Mimosa soon follow suit as Yuno and Asta stared in confusion, noticing the man before them was wearing a fancy robe with jewelry on it.

"Uh, fancy guy. Any idea who he is?" Asta asked an equally confused Yuno.

"YOU BUFFOON! THE MAN BEFORE US IS NONE OTHER THAN THE CURRENT WIZARD KING! Sir Julius Novacrhono!" Klaus said, causing Asta an Yuno to both gasp before they got down on one knee as well.

'It's him.' Yuno thought.

'I can't believe it.' Asta thought.

'The current Wizard King.' They both thought as Julius, who had messy blond hair, gray eyes, and a blue asterisk symbol on the left side of his forehead, gave them all a friendly smile.

-Timeskip 30 minutes-

After rising from their bowing, the Bulls, Dawns, and the Wizard King are now inside the top of an open tower. Julius has just been given the report on the dungeon and is now looking inside of Yuno's grimoire, the 4 leaf clover, after hearing about a scroll and strange writing.

"This is wonderful, I'm glad you were able to claim this. No doubt, this is magic is powerful and easily the greatest relic the dungeon had to offer." Julius said as he read to writing in the grimoire.

"You can read it, sir?" Yuno asked in surprise, unable to read it himself.

"A bit, but none the less, yes." the king replied.

"The greatest relic?! Wow!" Asta yelled in surprise.

As the Wizard King went back to reading the pages of the new spell, he started to geek out a bit and confirm the rumors Klaus had heard.

'So, the current Wizard King is a magic geek. Interesting.' he thought as he adjusted his glasses.

"Excuse me, I don't mean to impose but could you please cast this spell for me? Please?" Julius asked Yuno with starry eyes that a child would have in a candy shop.

"I'm sorry, sir but I haven't been able to use it since the dungeon." Yuno explained, causing the king to look down in disappointment.

"I see but still, what you have here is Sylph, the spirit of the winds. One of the four major elements." Julius said out loud as he thought, 'So, she chose him, huh?'

The king then closes the book before proclaim, "This is still an impressive spell and I will grow stronger as you grow stronger," he held Yuno's grimoire back to him as he finished. "I can guarantee it will be a big help in the future. Take good care of her."

"Um, Mr. Wizard King, sir. I also acquired some powerful magic as well!" Asta said as stepped forward. "May I show you?"

Klaus wanted to argue Asta's behavior but Julius stopped him and wanted to see.

"Yes, please show me your magic." he said with a smile.

Asta gained a smile on his face before holding up his right arm and transforming into a sword. "Okay but first this is the magic I possessed before the dungeon. It's call **Iron Dragon Slayer Magic,** and this is my **Iron Dragon Sword!** "

"Hmm, interesting." Julius said. "I don't think I've seen magic like this and what I'm feeling is completely unique as well."

"I know, sir!" Asta then returned his arm to normal before bending his knees a bit. "And this is what I gained in the dungeon. GGGRRRR!"

The air around them seemed pick up as Asta's body changed and he took on a demonic appearance with metalic looking skin, white eyes, and wisps of shadows surrounding him.

"And this is my **Iron Shadow Dragon Mode!** " Asta said with a smile.

"OH! I've never seen anything like this before." Julius said as Asta turned to Yuno with a cocky smile. Though a few moments later, the king's starry eyes returned. "This magic is like nothing I have ever seen before, how did you gain this?"

"Well, it sort of happened after I was knocked through a well and had a strange dream." Asta said as he gained everyone's attention. "I saw a few memories of the last person who used this magic and found out he could gain more power by eating other magical elements. So, I took an orb of shadows and ate the shadows within."

This answer left everyone a bit surprise and wondered what other power he could gain from eating it.

"Oh, I see. Well, in any case, you all did a wonderful job, you have my thanks." Julius said.

"Well, thank you, sir but before we go there's something I'd like to ask." Asta said as he went back to normal.

"Yes, go on." Julius said.

"It's just, I was wondering-" Asta started before taking a breath as he and Yuno, who knew what Asta was about to say, asked,

"How can I become the Wizard King?"

Julius just stared at the two until he let out a small laugh. "I see, so you two want to be Wizard King? No surprise since you're both Magic Knights."

"How can you two ask sure a question like that so carelessly?" Klaus interjected. "It's simple, the Wizard King must possess a noble heart and have the trust of his people."

"Good answer but not quite right, Klaus." Julius said as gained a straight face. "The real way is through results."

This caused everyone to hold their breath as the current king continued. "Alone, a noble heart can not save anyone. And the people's trust must be earned, it is not granted. You both want to know how to become the Wizard King? The true answer is to get results and prove your strength to all."

Everyone gained straight face, understanding the tone of his speech as Julius continued.

"Devotion towards results is all there is to it and anyone lacks that, will not be able to stand at the top of the summit." he said as Asta gained a smile.

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear." Both Asta and Yuno said at the same time.

Julius regained his smile as he saw the spark in Asta and Yuno's eyes, 'Well down, William and Yami. You both have some excellent newbies.' he thought before giving a laugh.

Though the tension in the air lingers, a few smiles were brought to everyone's faces as the Wizard King ceased his laughter.

After their meeting on the roof was complete, they were all invited to the Distinguished Service Ceremony, a gathering where awards and commendations are given to high star ranked squad member who have performed incredibly well. Though the Black Bulls were far from being able to attended, Julius insisted that Asta and Noelle come. The group had now arrived at a large, crimson double door and the Wizard King was in front of it.

"Here we are." he said as the doors opened. "But I have one question for all of you, can you achieve greater feats than these knights?"

Everyone gained looks of worry as the doors fully opened and revealed a few members from nearly all of the Knight Squads. 2 males from Crimson Lion, 3 males from Golden Dawn, 2 females from Blue Rose, and 2 males and 1 female from Silver Eagle, the squad run by Noelle's family. Theses 10 magic knights stood on either side of a red carpet that Julius was walking down, leaving Asta, Noelle, Yuno, Klaus and Mimosa standing in the doorway as the Wizard King approached his thrown.

"Now, let the ceremony begin." Julius said as he looked back to all the knight squads.

-Timeskip (Ceremony too long)-

The ceremony proceeded with ease as multiple knight were given new ranks and given a banquet to mingle not just among themselves but with Asta, Noelle, Yuno, Klaus and Mimosa. Though, the Wizard King couldn't attended due to business elsewhere, the banquet went as one would expect it to be, the squads didn't not converse with one another but they did comment on both Asta's power and his status as a commoner, even if their words had no effect much to Klaus and Mimosa's surprise.

'He's not bothered at all!' Mimosa thought with a blush and Klaus thought with a look of shock while Yuno had a blank face.

This continued until a spiky red head of the Crimson Lions, Leopold Vermillion, decided to insult Yuno, saying that the dungeon they completed was by pure luck and nothing else while add,

"If it were me instead of them, I would've done a better job." he said with a smug smile.

This just lead to more conflict between other members as Klaus tried to defend Yuno and say that nobility didn't matter but this just cause more insults to be thrown at not only Klaus but at Mimosa as well for a fatal injury in the dungeon. Things were getting out of hand and tempers were getting high, with Asta's getting the highest until it reached it's peak when he saw Noelle's brother, Solid Silva, approached with a full glass of water in his hand.

"Be reasonable, Alecdora. We all know who the most useless person here is and it's not Mimosa." he stopped his approach and lifted the glass above Noelle's head, aiming to pour it on her as an insult until something unexpected happened.

An iron column shot of nowhere and struck Solid the stomach, forcing bile to escape his mouth as he and the glass he was aiming to empty were thrown away from Noelle, who was shocked as she saw where the column came from, Asta.

The iron magic black bull had a look of rage on his face as he retracted his attack and walked over to stand in front of Noelle and glare at her "family."

"My friends are not useless." he said his eyes turned into reptile like slits. "What gives you the right to judge them when to me, you even worse scum they what you call them."

This gained everyone attention as they felt a strange force come off of Asta.

"Call me what you want, it won't change a damn thing! Cuz nothing is going to stop-" before he could finished his speech, sand started to swarm and trap Asta in a spiral of it.

"Bite your tongue, rat! We will not be demeaned by someone of your stature." Alecdora, a member of the Golden Dawn, said as he had his grimoire out.

His sand spell was rendered useless when Asta shot into the air with columns coming out of his legs, freeing himself of the trap.

"In your dreams!" he said as he glared down at the Golden Dawn member.

"Why you!" Alecdora said in anger.

"Now, as I was saying, nothing is going to stop me from getting results! Because someday, I am gonna be the Wizard King!" Asta said as he landed on the table the was behind him when he and Noelle where in front of. "And prove every last one of you wrong!"

With a voice of conviction and a face of rage, Asta was ready for anything these nobleman, these so called "knights" of the Clover Kingdom, that social standing don't mean ANYTHING!


	20. New Rival? Royal Emergency

**bulk Locke the the grim head: Thank you.**

 **Solartiger: Oh, he will.**

 **lostdog200: You're too kind.**

 **Guest: You're about to see it.**

As Asta stood on the table with a face of rage and slit eyes, everyone in the room fell silent, unable to comprehend what a commoner, though a powerful one, just did and said to all of them. Klaus was shocked from his insane act, Noelle couldn't decide whether to be flattered or embarrassed, and Mimosa just stared with a blush on her face, silently admiring Asta for his words. The only two who seemed to have made a sound were Yuno, who gave a nod with a smile and said,

"Well said."

And Solid, who was breathing heavily and slowly recovering from the blow to the stomach.

"You, the Wizard King?" Alecdora said, breaking the silence.

"A commoner like you?" Nebra, Noelle's big sister, said as the shocked look now replaced with a smug smile.

Laughter started to fill the room as Solid, who finally recovered from the blow to the gut, and Nebra let it out, completely ignoring the actions that happened a few moments ago.

"What a joke!" they both said as they pulled out their grimoires, white and purple, ready for a fight.

"Go **Water Binding Magic! Sea Serpent's Coil!** " Solid said as a large snake made of water flew out of his white grimoire, slithering and hissing before shooting towards Asta, aiming to harm him.

Asta remained calm as he summoned his power and shouted, **"Iron Dragon Sword!"**

His left arm transformed into a giant sword with spinning spikes and meet the water attack, slashing through it and scattering the droplets all over the hall.

"How?!" Solid said in shock of his attack failing.

 **"Mist Binding Magic! Mist Spider's Thread Spell!"** Nebra said, blasting a cloud of mist from her purple grimoire.

Asta was then surrounded by the cloud of mist, unable to see anything but didn't care as he recalled his sword and took a breath.

 **"Iron Dragon Roar!"** He said as he blasted a tornado of metal into the air, catching the mist in it's spiral and clearing his field of sight.

Nebra was stunned as she saw the tornado die down and Asta glaring at them with the same intensity as he jumped off the table.

'So, the rumors are true.' Alecdora thought as he gazed upon Asta. 'He does possess powerful magic and it seems to be dominating ours. Just what kind of commoner is this kid?' He finished his inner thoughts as he summoned his grimoire with his right hand.

"He's ours." he said before he thought. 'Let's just see how strong he is.'

 **"Sand Creation Magic! Sand Armored Guard!"**

The ground seemed to turned into sand as a giant suit of armor made of sand arose and trapped Asta in it's arms.

"Grr!" Asta growled as he was being pushed further into the armor.

"Asta!" Mimosa gasped as she watched with concern next to Klaus and Noelle.

"Is this really necessary? This lesson seems a bit harsh." Klaus said, wanting this battle to end before someone really got hurt.

"I didn't ask for your opinion!" Alecdora said, not wanting any back talk from his inferior.

"Ah! Sorry...sir." Klaus replied, recoiling slightly.

"Behavior like this is inexcusable!" Alecdora said as he gazed upon Asta's trapped form. "Especially during such a grand ceremony's banquet such as this."

Noelle and Mimosa watched in worry as Asta growled from his sand prison until Solid stepped forward and stood next to Alecdora.

"Isn't this a little light? Could the mighty Golden Dawn be getting soft?" He said with a sick smile. "Fellows like this who don't know their place must be painfully reminded."

Solid summoned his grimoire and began to prepare a spinning water shot, aiming to maim Asta to a certain degree.

"No, Asta." Noelle said in fear as she saw.

"This will silence you for good!" Solid said as a glint of madness appeared in his eyes.

"Don't! Solid!" Noelle shouted in greater fear as Yuno reached for his grimoire.

 **"Holy Water Bullet!"** Solid commanded as he attack fired at Asta with high speeds.

"Asta!" Noelle said as Mimosa gasped and Yuno pulled out his grimoire.

As the attack neared, Asta recalled what these royals said about him and his friends, making him very angry. All seemed lost for Asta until he blinked and his eyes white as the attack made contact, causing a cloud of sand to erupt and block everyone sight. This caused everyone to assume Asta was knocked out or dead until they heard a shout,

"This isn't over yet!"

As the word came as shadow on the floor came shooting out of the cloud and stopped directly under Solid, who couldn't react fast enough to Asta, in his **Iron Shadow Dragon Mode** , rising from the floor and delivering an uppercut to Solid's chin.

"Now apologize!" Asta said as he delivered a spin kick to Solid's stomach, sending him flying back into a wall and kicking up a cloud of rumble from the impact.

Noelle gasped in shock as Yuno placed his grimoire back in it's pouch, no longer needing to step in as Asta had it more than handled. As the cloud cleared around Solid, it showed that he had been embedded in the wall a bit with his eyes shut and face of pain saying more than words could.

'How could this have happened?' he thought as he opened his eyes, gazing upon Asta's demonic form. 'Being reduced to this state, by a commoner?'

Solid then used what physical strength he had left to remove himself from the wall and regained his breath before slowly walking to Asta, who stood without fear as shadows came off his body.

"How dare you? I'll make you pay for this!" he said as he gained a look of hatred and glared at Asta. "I will not be best by the likes of you!"

"Pfff!" Asta let out as he got his arms up and ready for anything Solid or any other royal had to offer.

"I will show no mercy to you this time, you're finished!" Solid said as he raised his grimoire.

"Stop this, please just stop this." Noelle protested, wanted this conflict between family and friend to end.

Almost as if the universe answered her prayer, a strong source of magic suddenly filled to banquet hall and stopped the battle as Asta and Solid gasped for air. The only sound coming from the room were foot steps as they neared to battling duo. Asta turned his head and saw it was Noelle oldest brother, Nozel, with a straight but deadly face walking towards them.

Everyone was put into a state of fear as they took a few steps back as he continued to approach Asta and Solid.

"Ah! Nozel, what is the meaning of this?" Solid asked, wanting to finish the battle eve if he cam barely stand.

"That quite enough, Solid. You shouldn't waste your magic on a commoner such as this." Nozel said, acting as if he wasn't giving off a massive amount of magic power.

"But look at what he's done to me!" Solid argue, gesturing to his scuffed up clothes and scratched up body.

"Enough." Nozel said as he continued to look down at his brother. "Do not sully our family name with these childish actions?"

This seemed to hit Solid on the nose as the man turned away. Nozel then turned his gaze to Asta and saw that he was sweating a bit but wasn't backing down.

'This pressure, it's like captain Yami's but different, colder.' he thought as he locked his white eyes on Nozel. 'So, this is the captain of the Silver Eagles.'

"A commoner such as you who would dare raise a hand against royalty, I wonder what punishment would be fitting enough for you?" Nozel wondered out loud as he stared at Asta.

The dragon slayer started to shake until he clenched his fists and started to give off his own magic energy, almost matching Nozel's power but only a bit.

"Sorry, but I refuse to be punished for speaking the truth." Asta said as he glared at Nozel. "Your social standings don't matter, cuz with enough hard work, nothing is impossible."

Everyone stared at the scene in shock as the Silver Eagle captain and the iron dragon Black Bull clash in magic power pressure. Klaus seemed to be breaking into a cold sweat as at the amount of power filling the room.

'Now, he's involved?! And Asta is trying to match him in power?' Klaus thought in worry. 'This is getting out of hand!'

Asta continued to stand his ground and got ready to fight as Nozel raised his hand to cast a spell without his grimoire until a voice broke their concentration.

"That's enough, both of you."

This voice caused Nozel to lower his hand and cease his magic pressure, turning around to see who it was. Asta followed suit as he stopped giving off his pressure and ended **Iron Shadow Dragon Mode,** returning his eyes to normal as he laid them upon the captain of the Crimson Lion Magic Knight Squad, Fuegoleon Vermillion.

"Ganging up on a young knight such as this, where is the honor in such an act?" he said as he locked his eyes with Nozel.

As this was going on, Asta felt someone was looking at him and turned to his right to see Leopold Vermillion, staring at him for a few seconds until he started laughing loudly and surprising everyone.

"Well, it looks like my cousin, Mimosa, was right." He said as he continued to look at Asta. "No doubt, you are one of a kind, kid."

Asta just continued to stare in disbelief as he let out a small, "What?

"Now then, It's decided. As of this moment, you are now the rival of me, Leopold Vermillion! Consider yourself lucky!" Leopold said as he laughed once again.

"Huh?" Asta let out as he continued to stare at the Crimson Lion, still confused on what he just said.

"Now, your name. Casta, was it?" Leopold said as he walked towards Asta.

"No, it's Asta, Leo!" Mimosa whisper shouted as she, Noelle, Klaus, and Yuno spectated on the side.

"Oh, Asta! Right!" Leopold or Leo, as Mimosa called him, said as he patted Asta's shoulder several. "What a fine name for my rival!"

"Um, sorry but I'm a little lost here." Asta said in confusion.

"Come on, this is no time for confusion but celebration!" Leo said as he stopped patting Asta's shoulder and gained a serious look. "Now, celebrate."

Asta just stared in surprise as he put on a small smile and cheered a bit as Mimosa explained her family tree to Yuno, who just tried to take in the complexity of it.

"So, uh, not to sound like a jerk but I already have a rival." Asta said as he turned his gaze to Yuno, who was standing next to a blushing Mimosa, as Leopold followed. "Yuno, right there.

The Crimson Lion just seemed to laugh and pat his shoulder once again as he said, "I see but there isn't anything that say you can't have two or more rivals."

"Are-are you serious?" Asta said as he somehow knew he wouldn't get out of this that easy.

Leopold suddenly stopped patting Asta's shoulder and starting to feel his muscles, measuring him up to see if he's fit to be his rival.

"Oh, though hidden, I can feel quite the amount of muscle, as expected of my rival." he said as he felt Asta's shoulders. "Now, how about a test of strength through some arm wrestling?"

"You've got to be joking!" Asta questioned as the lion continued to stare at him.

As this went on, the knight watching couldn't help but give their own strange reactions to this spectacle.

"Wow, I can't believe how dumb men can get, huh Char?" Said Sol Marron, a woman of the Blue Rose Squad with dark skin and black hair, to her captain while she was stuffing her face with food.

"Yes but please, mind your manners and hush." said Charlotte Roselei, a woman with light skin, blue eyes, and long, blond, braided hair while wearing a helmet, who had her eyes closed and head down slightly.

"Yeah, sorry, Char." Sol said as she keep eating.

"That's captain, to you." Charlotte said to her, obviously oblivious, squad member.

"Right won't happen again." Sol said, once again eating with her mouth full.

Back with Asta and Leopold, the Crimson Lion was still determined to have the Black Bull as his rival as he held his right arm in the air.

"Come on, just one friendly death arm wrestle between two rivals!" he said with pride.

"Seriously?!" Asta said as he saw this.

Various reactions were still being held across the room as two Golden Dawn members, one of which was eating, were watching in amusement while Klaus adjusted his glasses.

'Seems like everything had calmed down now.' he thought in relief until a certain someone decided to speak.

"And now a noble has recognized the commoner as a rival." Nozel said as he continued to gaze upon Fuegoleon.

This caught everyone attention as they all turned their sights upon the two captains.

"Do not forget, Nozel. He is one of the guests the Wizard King himself invited to attend the ceremony." Fuegoleon said as he continued to stare. "Though he is a commoner, his power alone can still be given a measure of acceptance."

"Hm, strange. I would never expect such nonsense to be spoken by a royal such as yourself." Nozel spat before continuing "It's a sad sight to see the family of Vermillion has grown soft. How disgraceful of you."

"Pardon me, Nozel?" Fuegoleon said as his look intensified.

"As an eagle ruling the skies, I could never accept an insect who trudges upon the ground. No matter how powerful they seem to be." Nozel said as he met the intensity.

The room started to shake once again as the windows started to crack under the pressure. The two captains, Nozel and Fuegoleon, continued to glare at each other as their mana spewed out behind them and gave form to a giant, light blue eagle and a giant lion made of flames.

Klaus broke into a cold sweat at the scene as he thought, 'Another battle of mana? To think, Asta possess enough to almost match them.'

"Wow, this is intense." Asta said as he looked around the room.

"Are you feeling this?" Yuno said from behind Asta.

"Yeah, these guys are something else alright!" he said as he continued to watch the two captains.

The two continued their battle of wills as the surrounding knights started to worry a bit.

"Shouldn't we stop them, Char?" Sol asked with a fork in her mouth.

"No, this is their business. Let them deal with it and call me captain." Charlotte said, eyes still closed.

"Whatever you say, Char." Sol said before eating another bite.

"It's captain." Charlotte said, finally opening her eyes as the sound of an explosion rang in the hall.

This surprise everyone as a man in a hood came barging into the room.

"Horrible news!" He said, causing the two captains to stop their battle of wills.

"Yes, what is it?" Fuegoleon asked.

"It's the Royal Capital, it's under attack!" he shouted in a panic.

This caught everyone by surprise as the Crimson Lion captain asked,

"What do you mean "under attack?" And by who?"

As the question was asked a man of Golden Dawn with brushed back and braided her by the name Siren Tium pulled out his checkered colored grimoire to view the situation.

"My stone creation magic can help with that, **Stone Model of the World** will show us everything." Siren said as he prepared his spell.

In a matter of seconds a small replica of the Clover Kingdom's Royal Capital was created, show various fires and people screaming on it.

"That's the noble realm." Klaus said in shock.

"A-mazing." Asta said in surprise.

As all the knight watched and discussed what was happening on the board, they couldn't help but wonder who did this and how did they do it, since the noble realm's guardians a constant protective spell to prevent invasions? Such questions needed answers and only one person knew that standing here wasn't going to get them.

"We need to do something, we can't just sit around here and let people die!" Asta said as he turned around and started running towards the door.

"Stop! We need to strategize before rushing in!" Klaus said to the dragon slayer. "How do you plan on finding the one responsible if there is more than one power source?"

"I'll just head for the biggest or go where it's the loudest!" Asta answered, not stopping his run.

Klaus gap mouthed for a moment before saying, "You can't just charge in like a wild animal!"

Leopold was surprised by the scene before giving another hearty laugh.

"Now that's what I call "Determination!" Well down, Asta!" he said before running after Asta. "I would be a fool not to see my rival in action!"

As the Crimson Lion left to follow the Black Bull, the other magic knight couldn't help but sweat drop at the boldness of the two before preparing a plan and moving out.

-Timeskip-

Asta is now running through the Royal Capital, gazing upon fires on countless buildings and people running for their lives. He soon fell upon strange people with tattered clothes and cracked, gray skin, no doubt being the army causing mayhem. He quickly went to work and summon his iron sword before spinning the spikes and started slashing through the enemy army while following the strong magical energy in the direction he was going until he gazed upon a man with a tattered robe and a strange eye patch terrorizing a little girl. Asta quickly deduced he was the enemy and source of all this and sped at blinding speed before turning his left hand into an iron column and knocking the man away, surprising the little girl as she gazed upon her savior.

"Stay away from her!" he said as he glared at the man, who had been embedded into a wall.

The man simply rose his head to Asta, gaining a demented smile as he found one of the one's he wanted to destroy, a Magic Knight.


	21. Fight for the Kingdom

**bulk Locke the the grim head: The wait is over.**

 **Solartiger: Thank you, my dear reader.**

 **papapryce: Thank you and I will.**

 **ShadowXZ2: In the future!**

 **Amaterasu: You're welcome and I know.**

As the Royal District of the Clover Kingdom continued to be covered in fires and strange, undead enemies, Asta stood proud in front of the scared little girls as the strange man with a strange eye patch, Rades, removed himself from the wall.

"I was expecting a magic knight to show up, even if it's a small Black Bull." Rades said as he continued to stare at Asta. "But your magic power, it's like nothing I've ever felt before. Pray tell, what kind of magic is it?"

"Not gonna happen, you psycho!" Asta said as he turned to the little girl. "Don't worry, I promise I'll keep you safe while I deal with this creep."

The girl said nothing as she nodded, feeling safe being near a magic knight.

"Aw! You got in the way! But she'll meet her end after I've dealt with you!" Rades said as he looked around to his army but saw they were all slashed to piece and no longer of use. "Oh, I see, you're that "Iron Dragon kid.""

"Oh, so you know about me?" Asta said as he kept his iron sword out.

"Hmm, yeah but this doesn't feel right." Ragna said as he scratched the side of his head. "I can feel that you're power is on the level of a captain, at best but you chose to be in the Black Bulls? A waste of potential in my eyes, A WASTE OF A WIZARD!"

The crazed man slammed his right hand to the ground and opened a black portal, allowing more strange soldiers to rise and obey his command. The soldiers surrounded Asta and the little girl as he watched with his crazy smile.

"Kill them both, my corpse army!" Rades commanded his army.

This order, however, fell to failure as Asta turned his left hand into another **Iron Dragon Sword** and started slicing the the soldiers to pieces.

"RAH!" he shouted as he slashed the corpses left and right.

Just like Asta, the other Magic Knights from banquet were doing away with the corpses without mercy and hit them with every one of their most powerful spells.

 **"Flame Magic! Sol Linea!"** shouted Fueogleon of the Crimson Lions as he blasted a thin beam of blue wire, destroying scores of corpses at once.

 **"Steel Creation Magic! Spiral Lances!"** shouted Klaus as he launched dozens of spinning lance head to destroy a group of undead.

"Feel the wrath of the Golden Dawn, undead filth!" Shouted Alecdora of Golden Dawn as he summoned another giant sand armor holding two sand swords. **"Sand Creation Magic! Sand Armored Guard!"**

The knight of sand gave an cross slash and destroyed not only another hoard of corpses but the very ground they stood upon.

 **"Wind Magic! Towering Tornado!"** Yuno proclaimed as he summoned a spiral of winds to suck up countless corpses and tear them apart with the violent winds.

"Stay back, you filthy abominations. You will not lay a finger on me." yelled Charlotte of Blue Rose as her grimoire opened and created a sword handle. **"Briar Creation Magic! Corpse-Hunting Briar Trees!"**

Charlotte grabbed the handle and held it in the air, summoning a great deal of thorn covered branches that destroyed zombie after zombie.

"May all that stand to oppose the Clover Kingdom, receive just punishment!" Nozel Silva of the Silver Eagles said as he opened his white grimoire. **"Mercury Magic! Rain of Silver!"**

The captain of the Silver Eagles unleashed a falling storm of large silver bullets and destroyed countless corpses.

Meanwhile, Asta was continuing to attack after attack on the zombies before him and wasn't planning on stopping.

 **"Iron Dragon Roar!"** he shouted as he blasted a tornado of metal from his month to the zombie.

As he ceased his attack, one slipped by him and about to attack the girl he was protecting until Asta quickly dashed in front of it and reared his left foot back.

 **"Iron Dragon Foot Blade!"** he shouted as the heel of his shoe grew a iron, arrow head blade.

Asta brought his leg up and slice the corpse in half before kicking it away and hitting two more.

While Asta was attack zombie after zombie, he failed to notice Leopold Vermillion watching from a distance.

'All that magic energy and used in such a straight forward way' he thought. 'Destroying hoard after hoard with ease.'

Leopold then gave a quick laugh before blasting a zombie to his left with a spiral of flames.

"That's what I long for in a rival! One who can entertain me while in battle." he said.

While was happening, the man responsible for the attack was also watching Asta destroy hoard after hoard.

'This kid, whatever magic he's using is tearing through my Wraith Magic. My puppets are being destroyed.' he thought as Asta slashed another corpse to pieces.

"That's the last one for now." Asta said as turned his arm back to normal.

"T-that was amazing. Thank you." said the little girl who Asta was still protecting.

"Don't thank me yet." Asta said as he turned his attention to the culprit responsible for all this chaos. "How much of a monster are you?! Attack innocent who can't even defend themselves?! That's low!"

This comment cause the man to flinch. "Huh?!" he let out as Asta began to charge him.

"This ends now!" he shouted as he charged but he ceased his charge when a portal opened in front of him and a small blast of magic hit his check. The thing that stepped out was soon revealed to bea large, intimidating coprse wrapped in bandages, tatter clothes and it's face covered in leather straps that look like his master's eye patch. The monster also had several orbs of energy surround him as it looked at Asta.

 **"Number 4. Jimmy."** Rades said as his servant stood over Asta. "You think these people are innocent? How can they be when they fail to see how powerful I am?"

The little girl let out a yelp of fear as Nero landed on her head but quickly covered his eyes at how ugly **"Jimmy"** was.

"So because of that, these people are guilty!" Rades said with his still crazed smile. "Alright Jimmy, this kid is all yours. Have some fun."

The monster known as Jimmy marched forward as Asta grew more and more freaked out.

"What is it with you and creepy stuff, just cut it out already!" he said until he notice the wound on his check was getting larger. "Huh, it grew."

"Looks like you caught the affect of Jimmy's curse shells." Rades explained, talking about the floating orbs around **"Jimmy."** "Even a simple cut will keep bleeding and bleeding, so be careful! Sick em, Jimmy!"

The monster roared as it sent the orbs around in towards Asta.

"Let's hope this'll work." Asta said, acting fast to defend himself and possibly stop the cut on his check. **"Iron Dragon Scales!"**

Asta's magic acted fast and cover his body in iron scales and from the looks of it, it stopped the cut on his cheek but for how long would be for later. The young Black bull turned his attention back towards the curse shells coming for him and starting destroying them while his scales protected him from anymore growing cuts.

"You may have a spell to protect you from Jimmy's shell but it doesn't matter. You have to run out of steam eventually and Jimmy has enough magic to make you run out even faster!" Rades said as he watch with amusement.

"We'll see!" Asta said as he destroyed another shell.

"And while you're doing that, Jimmy! Get rid of the brat he's protecting." Rades said, commanded his undead servant to divert it's blast from Asta to the little girl.

The girl cried in fear and cover her face with her arms until Asta jumped in front of her, went to his knees, and slammed his arms into the ground, createing a pyramid of multiple iron columns around him and her, protecting the girl from the attack.

 **"Iron Dragon Cage!"**

Though this spell was originally meant to trap opponents, it can also be served as a shield in certain situations.

"Leave her out of this, I'm your opponent!" Asta shouted, looking through one of the crevasses of the cage.

"Hahahaha!That's the thing with you Magic Knights! You throw your lives away to protect the fragile people!" Rades shouted as Jimmy went back blasting me curse shells.

As the shells hit the cage, Asta was struggling to maintain the cage and his iron scales but the girl he was protecting took a higher priority than himself. Rades saw this and just laughed in amusement.

"Why are you even protecting her?! You're only proving my point!" the madman said as he continued his rant. "The innocent will only get you killed in the process cause they just get in the way!"

"Please, save me." the girl pleaded with her hands together and teary eyes.

"She's gonna die anyway, so why protect her?!" Rades shouted.

"It doesn't matter if I have a reason! I'm gonna protect her with everyone I've got." Asta said as he lowered his scales, putting more power into his iron cage but leaving the cut on his check to bleed once again.

"Is that so, then you can stand their until your magic runs out and you both die from the curse shells!" Rades shouted as Jimmy started firing even more the the iron cage/shield.

While the cage kept taking the curse hits, Noelle had arrived from a corner and saw Asta and a girl in an iron pyramid taking hits from a zombie bigger than the once from before.

"There he is." Noelle said as she watched and thought, 'I need to help him.'

It was then she froze and remembered everything her family said about her, every insult and scorn about her very existence.

"No, he needs someone else. Not me." Noelle told herself, doubting abilities once again.

She looked around for anyone to help Asta as more zombies started to surround her until they were incinerated by a blast of flames. Noelle turned her gaze to see Fueogleon, captain of the Crimson Lions, approach her.

"Thank yo-" she was cut off in her thanks by the lion captain punching her on the top of her head.

"FOCUS!" he said as he took his fist away. "Tell me girl, do you hesitate because of your family ridicule?"

Noelle just swallowed a nervous lump in her thought as the man had hit the nail on the head, but this quickly turned into fear as the man was soon covered in flames with white eyes.

"There is no room for self doubt on the field of battle!"Fueogleon said with the flames dancing around him. "If you were to hesitate, lives could be lost!"

Noelle took a step back as the man soon pointed a finger at her.

"Cast your worries, your fears, and hesitations away. Today, you stand as a Magic Knight!" Fueogleon said, giving confidence to Noelle. "If you joined of your own choice, you must grow stronger. No matter the challenge!"

"Grow...stronger." Noelle repeated.

"There is no shame in being weak, as long as you have drive to go beyond and get stronger. But there is shame if you choose to stay that way." Fueogleon said, causing Noelle to get a grip and remember her strength.

'He's right, Asta's been proving that since the day he aquired his magic.' She thought. 'Even if he was 15 years late, he's proved to be amazing with it as if he's had it his whole life. And if he can master his, then I can master mine!'

As Noelle finally regained her nerve, Asta was still hold the iron cage with all his power and started to grow exhausted.

"Are you..okay?" the girl asked in worry while Nero massaged her head with his wings, trying to keep her down.

"See?! The weak civilians you risk your life saving only die weak while the strong, like me, grow even stronger." Rades laughed as his puppet, **Jimmy** , blasted more shots at the cage.

Asta's iron cage was beginning to weaken as two columns fell and a cursed shell was approaching the opening.

'No!' Asta though as he removes his arms from the ground and threw himself in front of the girl to protect her. The attack from **Jimmy** , however, never came as a dome of water suddenly appeared over the iron cage.

This cause Rades to grow irritated as he looked up to see Noelle, with her grimoire open and he hand in Asta's direction.

"Another annoyance!?" he let out as he glared at her.

"Noelle!" Asta said in relief.

"Just look at what you've gotten yourself in this time!" Noelle shouted. "You go running off once again and get into trouble that you can't even get yourself out of! I swear, you can be so reckless!"

"Sorry but thanks for the help!" Asta said as stepped out of the water dome.

"Now that you don't have to worry about the girl, you can finish him. Now get to it!" Noelle said, silently grateful she could save him.

"You got it!" Asta said giving her a thumb up. "Glad to see you have my back!"

"Of course, who else would make sure you don't get yourself killed?" Noelle commented.

"YOU DAMN BRATS!" Shouted Rades, who summoned more corpses to his side. "Now DIE!"

As the corpse approached Asta, they were suddenly destroyed by two blasts of fire. He turned to the source and saw it was Leopold with his green grimoire floating in front of him.

"What kind of rival would I be if didn't have your back when you need help, Asta?" He said with a confident smile on his face. "Now go show him and me what you can do, show us just how strong a dragon's power is!"

"Heh! Thanks and don't worry, I will!" Asta said, returning his smile.

"No thanks needed." Leopold said as he watched from the side lines.

"Let's do this!" Asta said as he dug into his side bag and quickly at a handful of iron nails, recharging his strength for his attack. **"Iron Shadow Dragon Mode!"** Asta yelled as he charge at Rades and his body took on a demonic appearance once again.

As he charge, Jimmy fired more curse shell but they failed to hit their target as Asta turned into a shadow and speed towards him. When Asta was in front of the zombie servent, he rose from the ground and gather shadows in his fist.

 **"Iron Shadow Dragon Crushing Fist!"** He shouted.

The dragon slayer then unleashed a barrage of fists on the large zombie, pushing it back towards Rades until Asta knocked it in the air with an uppercut.

"Say goodbye! **Iron Shadow Dragon Roar!"** Asta commanded as he fire a bright white blast with black rings at the corpse.

The blast was so great, **Jimmy** was reduced to scatter pieces as the blast died down.

"He did it." Noelle said.

"That was amazing." The girl said, still inside of Noelle's water dome with Nero still on her head, who nodded in agreement.

"That is the most un-mage like fighting I have ever seen! You truly are fascinating!" Leopold said as he laughed again.

"Well done." Fueogleon said with a smile as he watched from a distance.

"Huh?! Impossible! How can simple punches and a blast of your bad breath bring **Jimmy** down? It's not possible!" Rades complained, not wanting to belief his creation would fall so easily.

"Well, that's too bad! So now, you're have to fight me yourself. Get ready, ya creep!" Asta said as he stepped toward Rades.

"OOOHHH! Think I'm beat, kid?! Well, you're sadly mistaken!" Rades said as he opened another black portal, this time with lightning coming out.

"Come forth! **Alfred!** "

As Rades gave the order, another zombie coated in lightning with it's arms restrained, legs chopped off at the thigh, and covered in more leather and tattered clothing floated in the air.

"Say hi to **Number Two!** " Rades said with glee as Alfred floated towards Asta, who took a step back. "Got for it Alfred, he's your for the beating!"

 **Alfred** seemed to understand as it unleashed a large blast of lightning, drawing the attention of every Magic Knight that was still fighting off the zombies.

"Oh no. Asta." Yuno said as he watched the lightning strike.

With this new puppet at Rades' disposal, with the Clover Kingdom win the day or will it fall as Rades intends it to?

* * *

Side Note.

Iron Dragon Cage is the third OC spell and Iron Shadow Dragon Hard Fist is the fourth OC spell.

OC spells.

1\. Iron Dragon Kunai. Metal Storm. Chapter 10.

2\. Iron Dragon Sword. Spinning Slash. Chapter 13.

3\. Iron Dragon Cage. Chapter 21.

4\. Iron Shadow Dragon Crushing Fist. Chapter 21.


	22. Wraiths End, Safety Assured?

**bulk Locke the the grim head: Thank you.**

 **BanRedfox: Thanks and yeah, he kinda is.**

As the magic knights continued to fight off the zombies and the lightning raged in their ears, **Iron Shadow Dragon mode** Asta was busy fighting Rades' newest puppet, **Alfred** , but this puppet was much faster than **Jimmy** was because no matter how fast Asta tried to strike it, the puppet was simply faster. While this was happening, Rades just laughed as he watched from the sidelines.

"Poor brat! Looks like you're in for it now, your magic may be strong but you're too slow!" Rades said as he continued to cackle. "Power is completely useless if you can't even hit what you're aiming for!"

Asta growled at the comment as he turned into a shadow and dodged **Alfred's** lightning attacks while the little girl with Nero on her head continued to watch.

"Please be okay." she said, hoping Asta would be alright.

"Over here!" Noelle said, drawing the girls attention. "You need to get somewhere safe!"

The girl glanced back at Asta's fight for a moment before running to Noelle.

"Okay but he needs help!" she said, stopping in front of Noelle.

"Don't worry, I'll be here to help him." Noelle said, giving a smile to the girl. "Just leave it to me."

The girl was surprised by Noelle as the hope in her eye returned and she gave a smile of her own before running to find herself a save haven. When the girl was out of her field of vision, Noelle turned her attention back to Asta as the dragon slayer jumped in the air to try and hit **Alfred.**

 **"Iron Shadow Dragon Club!"** Asta quickly shouted as he launched a iron column covered in shadows at the puppet.

The puppet quickly dodged the attack and shot lightning at Asta, who gathered shadows in his arms and crossed them to block as he was sent to the ground with a skid on his feet.

"URH! This is getting me no where!" Asta said, frustrated at his flying opponent.

"Not so easy now, huh?!" Rades said, drawing Asta's attention. "You'd be an idiot to think **Alfred** would stand still because you wanted him to!"

This only infuriated Asta more as he turned into a shadow again to dodge the lightning puppet's attacks. As Noelle watched from the side, she remembered Asta's strength in the dungeon and his words about being with those you care about.

'Back in the dungeon, his power was enough to beat that mage. But his one is faster and Asta can only move so much.' she thought as her grimoire floated in front of her. 'I couldn't be of any help back then but now, I help protect him like how he protected me.'

"You, girl from the Black Bulls!" Leopold said, bringing Noelle out of her thought to pay attention to him. "If you're going to assist my rival, then let me accompany you! I won't allow such a coward to defeat Asta before me!"

"Excellent!" Noelle said as they both turned to the battle.

Before the two could aid Asta, a pool of murky liquid formed and something appeared to be rising from it. When it fully arose from the puddle, it was revealed to be another one of Rades' puppets, covering in multiple cloths stitched together with the hands covering in black leather.

"So, you two feel left out? Well, how about something to keep you occupied? Say hello to **David**." Rades commented with the same, sick smile.

'Mud magic? A terrible match against mine.' Leopold though as he kept his calm.

'Asta, that wound on your check has stopped growing but it still look bad.' Noelle thought as she gazed at Asta and remembered the cut on his right cheek.

Her thoughts were soon focused to her current situation as **David** began to attack them, launching it's murky mud like magic at Leopold and Noelle. While this was going on, Rades decided to stir up some conversation with Asta.

"I remember you saying something earlier. About me facing you myself!" Rades said while crossing his arms, bursting into laughter while watching Asta dodged another bolt from Alfred. "Why would I bother fighting when I can have someone else do it for me?!"

Asta growled as he continued to dodged and become forced to listen to this crazed man's ravings.

"All I gotta do is relax and watch! It's the best way to get result without any risks, and the plus is, I'm not a moron like you!" Rades said as he pointed to his head. "I gotta a brain and I know how to use it, so poor luck for you. Idiot!"

Rades cackles even louder as Asta rose to his feet and stared at him.

'I gotta thing of something, this guy's more monster than man. But I can't let him win.' Asta thought as he got ready to fight.

"What, are seriously thinking you can still win? Quit wasting and just die already!" Rades, said, losing his smile. " **Alfred!** Finish him!"

The lightning puppet complied with it's master's demand as it growled and started releasing me lightning to prepare for an attack. This caught the attention of Noelle and Leopold as they kept dodging **David's** mud attacks.

"Asta!" Noelle shouted before she dodged again.

"Dammit, we can't get close!" Leopold said as he dodged another attack.

Back with Asta's battle, the dragon slayer had to end this battle now before he was done for.

"Crap! Look like I've got no choice but to meet it head on!" Asta said as he watched the monster charged up.

"That it, let him have it!" Rades said.

Alfred complied and unleashed an enormous blast of lightning.

 **"Iron Shadow Dragon Roar!"** Asta shouted as he released his bright white blast.

The two magic beams clashed, showing they were evenly matched and struggled for dominance until the lightning started to over power the limited roar.

'Dammit!' Asta thought as the lightning grew closer.

The attack almost hit Asta until a stream of flames came and hit **Alfred** , coating it in flames and turning it to ash. This caught Asta and Rades by surprise as Asta ceased his attack.

'No, not again! First my **Jimmy** and now **Alfred** , turned to ashes.' Rades thought as he stared at the spot in the air that **Alfred** once floated.

The sound of foots steps was heard as Asta and Rades turn to see the culprit, Fueogleon Vermillion, walking towards them.

'It was him!' Rades thought.

While Asta was grateful, he was a bit upset that he wasn't able to beat **Alfred.** He was then pulled from his thought as the Crimson Lion captain stopped next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Even if it was necessary, I interfered in you fight and for that, I am sorry." he said as he kept his eyes on Rades. "But for a Magic Knight of your strength to die here, would be a terrible lose."

Asta just stared at Fueogleon with awe, knowing that being complimented by a squad captain was a rarity.

"Please forgive me." Fueogleon continued. "And I must say, as a commoner with powerful, unknown magic, you have handled yourself exceptionally better than any other I've seen."

As Asta took in his words, the Crimson Lion captain remembered his talk with Asta and the determination the boy had shown.

"He was right and it hurts to admit this, but Yami made an excellent choice picking you." Fueogleon said as he walked in front of Asta and faced Rades. "Asta, was it? Back at the banquet hall, you said you would prove us wrong and become the Wizard King. did you not?"

"Ye-yeah." Asta said with a nod.

"This guy, the Wizard King?" Rades said, finally regaining his voice. "A mindless brat like you could never amount to anything, even with the powerful magic of yours!"

Fueogleon cracked a smile as turned head to Asta. "Well, Asta, it seems that you have a third rival now."

This caused Asta to gasp, not only at the thought of having another wizard see him as a worthy challenger but that it was a captain of a squad that saw him as a rival. The Crimson Lion captain turned his head back to Rades and walked forward, showing that he will fight the crazed man as well.

"Well, this is interesting. The bull boy couldn't beat me, so now another has come to play." he said with a laugh. "And it's the captain of the Crimson Lions, Fueogleon Vermillion."

Said man ignored the crazy man's speech and turned his head to Asta once again.

"You fought well but please, leave the rest to me." he said as he shrouded himself in his fire magic.

"Did he mean that? Me, his rival? It's unbelievable." Asta mumbled, getting emotional that a captain saw him in such a light.

The dragon slayer then pushed his joy away and said.

"Alright, I'll leave this to you!" he said as he changed back to normal but put up his scales to stop the cut on his cheek.

"That's good, a warrior must know his body's needs. He must know if he is able to fight or not, and right now, with your body exhausted and energy drained you are not." Fueogleon said. "Your fearlessness is your greatest weapon but their are time, such as you are now, that you need to remain calm if you want to be the Wizard King."

Asta agreed with is words and nodded as the Crimson Lion captain started questioning Rades, wanting to know his intentions with such inconsistent and crazy act.

"You don't know? Well, that's a shame. It appears I'm the only one having fun at this reunion." Rades said while rubbing the back of his head.

"What that? What are you talking about?" Fueogleon questioned, curious to what he was going on about.

"I was a Magic Knight six years ago, a top candidate!" Rades said pointing to himself.

"What?!" Asta and Fueogleon said, shocked from this news.

"You were one of us? But that's impossible, it can't be." Fueogleon said in disbelief.

"Trust me, it was more than possible but I suppose it's rational you took little notice of me." Rades said.

This caused the Crimson Lion to briefly remember a regular citizen with an incredible amount of power.

"Yes, I remember you now. You name was Rades." he said as he continued recalling the past. "You were placed in the Purple Orca but why are fighting me now?"

Rades scoffed in annoyance, having to remember the day he was placed on this path.

"Because they kicked me out, that's why." he said with a scowl as he turned his head to the side.

"Expelled? But why? Your power was high, same with your potential." Fueogleon said, compliment the man on what he can remember.

"Yeah but they were too afraid of my **Wraith Magic** and what I could do with it." Rades replied as he turned his head back and lifted his left hand, clenched it with hate. "Dangerous they said, forbidden they said. And because of that I was kick out of, not just my squad but the Clover Kingdom itself! I was nothing but an average citizen and no one cared enough to stand up for me!"

Rades then placed his hand on his chest as he continued his story.

"Even if my skills were greater than that of a noble, they all thought I was beneath them!" Rades said as he started to shake. "Magic is everything, not only to me, but to everyone and yet those fools still cast me aside! Well, so now you have, Vermillion, the reason I'm here is to get revenge on the Order and Kingdom that threw me away!"

The Lion and the Bull stood silently as they let the story sink in, ready to cast judgement on his reasons.

"Vengeance? That is why you want to destroy so many lives?" the lion said. "You're a fool is that all you wish to achieve!"

Rades just regained his smile as a black portal opened behind him. "Believe what you want but the thing with reasons is, they actually turn out to be quite simple."

When Rades complete his sentence, a thin man covered in bandages and white clerical attire decorated with diamond-shaped ornaments and an eye-shaped ornament attached to it's head rose from the portal and floated behind Rades.

"Leo!" Fueogleon shouted drawing his brother's attention away from **David.** "Do you need help dealing with that creature?"

"Nope, we can handle this thing!" He answered, ignoring Noelle's feelings. "We'll defeat this thing in no time!"

"Alright, you deal with that creature while I deal with the puppet master. Understood?!" Fueogleon commanded.

"Yes sir!" Leopold replied.

'Wow, these guys are something else!' Asta thought, amazed by their courage.

"Do you really think that'll work?! Their magic won't stand a chance!" Rades said, referring to Noelle and Leopold's fight against **David.** "Not that I'll let you go anyway. Those two are on their own."

Though he wanted to continue his rant, Rades couldn't let any words out as he saw a giant lion made of fire standing over Fueogleon.

"Enough talk, time for action!" The Lion captain started as he declared his attack. **"Flame Creation Magic! Leo Rugiens!"**

The giant flame lion then released a stream of fire on Rades and his newest puppet, hoping to burn both to a crisp but when the attack ended, Fueogleon was left in shock to see both of them covered in a defensive sphere of magic.

"The wraith must've shielded them both." he said as Rades started to laugh, finding it funny to see the captain's face.

"Say hello to **Carl, Number 1!** " he said with a smile. "When he was alive, his defensive magic was second to none. And with my cursed magic, we're both impervious!"

"Dammit! How many does he have?!" Asta said in anger.

"Asta, remember what I said about staying calm!" Fueogleon shouted, drawing Asta away from his anger.

"Right!" Asta said, calming down as he continued to watch Fueogleon fight Rades.

"Well, somebody's confident isn't he? But defensive magic isn't the only magic **Carl** can do!" Radies said as the dome protecting him and **Carl** started firing multiple harpoons, aiming to kill the captain.

 **"Flame Creation Magic! Ignis Columna!"**

With determination in his voice and a wave of his hand, Fueogleon was soon surrounded by a flaming tornado that destroyed every harpoon that tried to kill him.

"Well, looks like someone is copying my **Carl** , huh?" Rades said, trying to mock his opponent. "Alright then. let's just see how you hold up when we put our powerful offense together with our impenetrable defense."

"To you, I appear helpless, do I not?" Fueogleon said, not intimidated by Rades in the slightest.

"HAHAHA! If that's all you can do, I'm incredibly disappointed in you, captain." Rades said, still confident.

The crazed man's confidence then vanished as a blue beam shot of from the flaming tornado, pierced **Carl's** protective dome and piercing through it's chest. This turned of events shocked Rades and Asta as Carl was instantly set a blaze and tuned to ashes. When Carl was no more, Fueogleon's flaming tornado died down and showed that the flames that surrounded them before their battle had been extinguished, showing the cloudy blue sky as the captain kept his glare on Rades.

"That was my **Flame Magic. Sol Linea.** The moment you started attacking me, the mana in your shield grew thin in several place for a few moments and gave me the exact spots I needed to aim for." Fueogleon explained to the banished knight."If you think I've never encountered something like that, then you truly are a fool."

Asta and Rades continued to stare at the Crimson Lion captain as he turned his head to Noelle and Leopold, who were still fighting **David.**

"As for you two, always remember you are Magic Knights And you will always face strong foes with troublesome magic! In order to achieve victory, you must judge your strengths and your opponent's strength." Fueogleon said, giving excellent advice to junior Magic Knight. "You must fight with calmness, bravery, and control. These things are never easy but if you can master them, you will never be defeated. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" Noelle and Leopold said, reigniting the flames of determination that dwelled within them.

'Incredible. He found his opponents weakness and encourages his allies in little time.' Asta thought as he was amazed by the Lion captain. 'So, this is what it mean to be a captain. It's amazing!' he finished thought as he gave a smile to the man.

"No, that's impossible. My number one wraith, was beaten like it was nothing." Rades said, shocked at this turned of events. "Victory should've been mine, it should've."

"Listen well, Rades." Fueogleon called out, drawing the man's attention. "Your power and your talent are incredible but without a bold heart, it's nothing more than meaningless savagery."

Rades started to shake in fear and let a nervous sweat fall from his face as Fueogleon grit his teeth, revealing fangs as his gazed burned with anger.

"One such as you is nothing but a monster! Your judgement of banishment was just and deserved!" Fueogleon finished, his voice releasing nothing but truth and heart.

As the mastermind behind the attack on the Clover Kingdom froze, his army of undead minions were defeat over all royal districts and the knights were gazing upon their handiwork. The citizens soon celebrated their protectors and cheered at the top of their lungs.

"Hip hip, hurrah! Hip hip hurrah!" the citizens shouted but unknown to them, something much worse was around the horizon.

As they cheered for the Magic Knights, a light skinned witch with long, curly, tan colored hair, light colored eyes with thick dark eyelashes and dark red-violet lipstick on her lips was flying on a broomstick, wearing a black dress with furry skirt as she watched the cheering go on.

"Well, I 'd say this celebration is a bit premature. The preparations are almost complete and I believe it' time to feast." she said as she licked her lips. "All of that delicious, youthful mana."


	23. Questions and Answers

**bulk Locke the the grim head: Thank you my friend.**

 **BanRedfox: Thanks and I may come up with something.**

As the battle with with **Carl** came to an end, Rades was preoccupied with his thought and wondering where he went wrong.

'I don't understand. How could me plan have failed? My power is enough to compete with the strongest of mages, honed for countless hours. I studied my enemies and made perfect preparations, for years I have been planing for this day. Nay! For this moment!' Rades thought as he held up his left hand and closed it.

"But it was all for nothing!" Rades said aloud, coming to terms with his faliure. "How could this have happened instead of what was planned?"

His train of thought was taken away as he heard a cry and turned to see Leopold and Noelle fighting his **number 3, David.** His corpse puppet put up a good fight but in the end it fell like the rest as Leopold charged at it with blazing hands.

 **"Flame Magic! Spiral Flames!"** he shouted as he thrust his hands onto the corpse.

The flames of Leopold hands formed a spinning tunnel as they burned against **David** , pushing away it's murky magic. Leopold gave a mighty shout as he continued to push against the monster until he forced it off it's feet and to the ground, turning it to ash. This caused Rades to feel even more depressed as he saw Noelle join Leopold near **David's** ashes.

"Mission accomplished!" Leopold said. "This creature is done and buried!"

Leopold gave a quick, victorious as Asta gave both of them a warm smile to show he was happy they won.

"Well done, you two!" Fueogleon said with a smile on his face, looking at them. "Your worth as both Magic Knights and as Royalty shine bright!"

"Sir!" they both said as they gave the 3 finger salute across their chest.

"Wait, why am I saluting him?" Noelle said in embarrassment for saluting a captain that wasn't her own.

Fueogleon then turned his attention back to Rades, who was in shock that another one of his personal, puppets was destroyed.

"No. No, no, no!" Rades said as he watched Fueogleon walk towards him with a straight face and his grimoire floating. "No, I'm still stronger! I don't care if you're royal or not, I am still the strongest one here! I'll show you!"

"Now the, **Flame Creation Magic. Leo Palma.** " Fueogleon commanded as multiple paws/hands made of fire surround Rades, trapping him.

"No! Get these damn paws off me!" Rades said, struggling in his restraints as he dropped his black grimoire. "This isn't fair, you bastard! Let me GO!"

Fueogleon stopped in front of Rades continued to struggle.

"I have many questions I am going to ask you." he said, causing Rades to stop his struggling. "And once I have confiscated your grimoire, you will answer them."

This cause Rades to become very upset and struggle in his restraints even more.

"What?! No! Don't you dare!" he said, suddenly gaining a look of fear.

A flaming paw/hand then picked up Rades' grimoire and placed it in it's master's hand, giving Fueogleon a chance to look at it up close, much to the dismay of Rades.

"Get your hands off that! It's not your's to touch!" Rades said but it feel to deaf ears.

"Well, this is interesting. It seems your grimoire is quite thin." Fueogleon said as he opened the book, but was shocked to see it only had one page! "A single page, unthinkable!"

"Put it down! Put it down right now!" Rades said, still wanting the Crimson Lion captain to drop his grimoire. "Stop looking at it! Give it to me right now!"

'One page? But that would mean he only has use of one spell.' Fueogleon thought as he gazed at the page.

Rades' look of fear soon grew to horror as he kept shouting at Fueogleon.

"Give it back now! You've won, I admit it, but even I don't deserve such mockery!" Rades shouted as he broke into a cold sweat.

"That's enough cuz I don't hear anyone mocking you!" Asta said, drawing their attention as he slowly walked towards and glaring Rades. "I understand that you want to be taken seriously. But why did you have to gain it through all of this?"

As the dragon slayer spoke, Rades couldn't find the words to reply. He just watched as Asta kept walking towards him.

"Your strength it great and your power is the same but now, it all means nothing!" Asta said as the cut on his iron scale covered cheek was dripping a bit. "You threw it all away on this cowardly invasion!"

As Rades continued to stare in shock, Fueogleon cracked a small smile and agreed with Asta.

"Well spoken." Noelle said as she walked next to Asta and joined them.

"You could've become a man of greatness if you chosen another path but this, what you are now, is what happens when you lack a just heart." Fueogleon said as he gazed upon Rades, who had his head down. "Now you must atone for your crimes."

All seemed to be going well until Asta's ears picked up an unknown voice. "Do you understand?"

'Huh? Who was that?' Asta thought as his body jumped a bit, drawing Noelle attention.

"What's wrong, Asta?" Noelle asked but it wasn't heard as Asta focused on the voice.

"Let this be a lesson to you. It shows that you are not powerful enough to defeat a Magic Knight Captain." the voice said.

"That's not true. I almost won." Rades said, making it clear that the voice was talking to him.

"Almost is not enough. You just simply have to accept that not all battles can be won, no matter how powerful you are." the voice said. "Even my power has limits. Now then, this is the last time you act of your own accord."

This caused Rades to growl and grit his teeth as the voice continued to speak to him.

"From now own, go according to the plan. This is not just for our sack but for the master's as well."

The voice then ceased it's conversation with Rades as massive portals of dark magic started appearing in all the districts where the zombies attack, pulling the Magic Knight present in the district in and dumping them somewhere else. All except the location that held Rades, Fueogleon, Asta, Noelle, and Leopold.

"Something's happened!" Asta said, feeling that sudden shift of mana in the air.

"Yes, something is indeed wrong." Fueogleon added, feeling the shift as well.

"The mana of the other knights, it's gone." Noelle said.

"I can't sense it either, someone must be behind this." Leopold added as his brother started questioning Rades.

"Tell how you executed this invasion and where are the one you've brought with you." Fueogleon commanded, wanting answers to the sudden disappearance of his allies.

Though this brought confusion the the remaining Magic Knights, it brought glee to Rades as his smiled returned and chuckled a bit.

"There must be more in this plot than just you." Fueogleon stated, going over what he could draw together. "At least one who could use **Spacial Magic** on such a large scale. So tell, me where is your partner?"

Rades just stayed silent as Fueogleon kept talking.

"Have they fled? If so and even if they managed to temporarily delayed the Magic Knights, but the does not mean they could claim the kingdom." he said as he gave his theory. "Nor do I think this is believe this is to reach the king. So tell me, what is your mission besides your personal goal of revenge?"

This caused a foreseeable reaction as Rades begun laughing again, knowing something that they didn't and loving it.

"You really wanna know? Okay then, I'll tell you." Rades said as he looked into Fueogleon's eyes. "It's you. You are our mission!"

This caused Asta, Noelle, and Leopold to jump in surprise, finding out that all of this chaos, destruction, and madness was all to get one man.

"Why? Why my brother?" Leopold asked, taking a step forward.

"Yes, why me exactly?" Fueogleon asked, wanting to know as well.

The captain's question got no answers as a black portal opened under him, surprising not only Fueogleon but Asta, Noelle, and Leopold as well.

"More of your allies magic, is it? So be it, maybe now we can acquire the answers we crave." Fueogleon said, accepting the sudden portal that was consuming him.

"No!" Asta said as he ran to try and save him.

"Fueogleon!" Leopold said as he too ran to try and save his brother.

The two wizards were only mere inches from the captain before the portal consumed Fuegoleon, disappearing without a trace and leaving them in failure.

"NNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!" Leopold said as he fell to his knees at the spot where his brother once was.

* * *

 **Skipped Yuno's battle with Catherine, badass enough. Sorry if you don't like that.**


	24. Lion's Death, Dragon's Power

**b** **ulk Locke the the grim head: I agree and I'll come up with something good.**

 **Made a few changes to the end of Chapter 24.**

As Asta, Noelle, and Leopold continued to stare at the spot where the Crimson Lion captain, Fuegoleon, and grew both angered and worried of his disappearance. They thought they'd won, they thought the Capital was saved but instead, the true battle hadn't even started and they already felt as though the had lost. They wanted answered, they wanted to know what was the bigger play here, and they wanted them now. After pulling himself off the ground, Leopold turned his sights to a still restrained Rades, who had a smug smile on his face, and went to him with rage in his eyes.

"Where is he?! Where is my brother, you bastard?!" he said as he took hold of Rades' shirt collar. " I know you know where that portal sent him, so tell me you evil cur?!"

Rades simply cackled in Leopold face before bursting in a maddening laughter! Not caring about their worries or that he lost the battle anymore.

"He's just toying with us! He wasn't the one who cast that spell!" Noelle said as she and Asta watched from the side. "But the accuracy, it had to be someone close if they were able to do it that precisely."

Asta nodded in agreement as he and Noelle started looking around at the surrounding buildimgs, searching for any sight of the mage who cast the spell.

"They must be nearby, hiding in an ally or in one of the buildings." Noelle said as they stayed on guard.

Asta searched around and focused on sensing any magic that could be near them and using his other senses to help find the mage. It took a minute or two but Asta found the smile of the mage, it was faint but he could smell him and he was currently under a large pile defeated corpses.

'Found you!' he thought as he took a breath and expanded his cheeks.

"Asta?" Noelle asked, drawing Leopold attention to the dragon slayer as well.

 **"Iron Dragon Roar!"** Asta shouted as he unleashed a spiraling breath attack to the corpses.

The dead bodies flew in all directions while one looked different from the others, a bit more alive as it flew in the sky. Suddenly, a gray grimoire with a blue glow appeared in front of the body and a portal, the very same portal the swallowed Fuegoleon, appeared behind him as he flew into it.

"That was him!" Leopold said wit a gasp, surprised that the culprit was so close.

"Hiding in the corpses?!Unthinkable!" Noelle said as she witnessed this.

Asta stepped forward to where the pile of corpses once laid and looked around, wondering if the enemy portaled himself far away or close by. He looked around for the mage until he heard a voice and turned to the source.

"Impressive senses." the man said as he appeared on the roof of a tall building, looking exactly like a corpse so he could blend in. "I had a feeling you could weed me out, but even with this disgusting disguise, I couldn't stay hidden."

The mage then raised his right hand to his face and pulled it off, revealing his light skin, gray hair, and dark eyes with gray pupils and 2 lines over his face.

"You really are a strange creature but this battle is over." He said.

"What do you mean it's over?" Asta asked.

"What's over?" Leopold asked, still in front of a confined Rades.

Their answer came in the form of another black portal opening and something falling out of it, something they wished they hadn't seen. That something was Fuegoleon, the Crimson Lion captain, with his right arm missing, a blank stare in his eyes, and a puddle of blood forming. The very sight shocked Asta, Noelle, and Leopold while Rades was smiling at the sight while his flaming restraints were disappearing, signaling the one thing no one could've predicted, Fuegoleon had been defeated or worse, killed.

The silence filled the air for a few as they all absorbed this new discovery and reacted accordingly.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" Noelle screamed in terror, seeing the dead body of Fuegoleon scaring her to the core.

"RRRAAHHHHH!" Asta screamed in anger, wanting to kill the one who killed the Lion captain.

"No. No! Fuegoleoooooon!" Leopold said as he released his hold of Rades, his hands shaking in horror at the sight of his dead brother.

The three knight then ran to the body of Fuegoleon and stared at it, wondering who could be strong enough to defeat a captain of such strength.

"No way! Who could be strong enough to beat him?!" Asta said in shock and anger.

"Hi-his arm. It's been completely ripped off." Noelle said, trying to come to terms with this.

"This-this can't be happening." Leopold said in shock, seeing the one he idolized all of his life dead before his eyes.

As he continued to stare as his brother's dead body, Leopold could see all the time he spent with Fuegoleon flash before his eyes. Harnessing his flame magic, studying, flying a broom, training, relaxing, all the the moments they spent and the smile on Fuegoleon's face as molded Leopold into the mage he is now.

"Please, you can't just die. You can't lose, you cant. You would never lose, Fuegoleon!" Leopold shouted, taking this turned of events the hardest.

As they continued to watch him bleed, something else fell from the portal and caught Asta and Noelle's attention. It was a grimoire, Fuegoleon's grimoire.

"Wait! His grimoire, if it's still intact then-" Noelle started as Asta caught on.

"He could recover. He could live!" Asta said as he and Noelle bent down to the captain right side where his arm used to be.

"We need to stop the bleeding!" Noelle said as she tor a bit of her dress to stop the wound.

"On it!" Asta said as he and Noelle worked together to stop the blood.

"No. This can't be real." Leopold said still in shock.

Once the wound was covered, all that was needed was a way to heal him.

"If only Mimosa was here." Noelle said, needing a solution to this.

Asta would've replied to reassure her but his voice halted in his breath as he look past her to Fuegoleon's grimoire.

"No." he said, drawing Noelle attention as she turned to where he had been looking.

They both stared in shock as the top left corner of Fuegoleon's grimoire started to break apart and disappear.

"Oh no, his grimoire is starting to disintegrate!" Noelle said in worry. "Leopold, we need your help!"

As they both look at the young lion, they could see that he was still in shock at the sight and trying to deny it with all his might.

"Fu-Fuegoleon." he muttered as he seemed to be in a trance.

"Snap out of it! You can't just stand their and let him die!" Asta said, trying to bring his new, self proclaim rival back to his senses.

All attempts seemed to fail as Rades was now back on his feet and watching Leopold's mental breakdown.

"Well, well well. Looks like somebody lost their drive, huh?" he said with a sick smile as he summoned some magic to his left hand.

"Please, pull yourself together!" Noelle said, still trying to bring him back to reality.

It failed once again as Rades blasted Leopold back, crashing into a wall before turning his attention to Noelle and Asta.

'He still has power left.' Noelle thought as she turned her eyes to Rades.

'Dammit! I thought he was beaten!' Asta said as he got up and charged at Rades, cocking a scale covered fist back.

Rades simply sneered as he dodged the attack and hit Asta with a blast of magic, sending him back and into a building beyond where Noelle was.

"Asta!" she shouted in worry as Rades kept walking toward her and Fuegoleon.

As he made his way to them, laughing manically and recalled Fuegoleon's scolding about his life choices, Rades said, "My hearts the problem, huh? Well that no problem to me since I live my life just fine. Looks like you and your preachings will be put to better use in the after life, captain!"

As he almost neared him, a voice stopped him cold.

"Your purpose has been meet here, Rades." the man, who had still been on top of the building and watching this whole time.

"Huh, Valtos?" he said in confusion, turning his attention to him.

"It's time for you to leave, Rades. And quickly before the other Magic Knight return." the man, Valtos, said as he held out his hand.

As Rades stood still, a black portal soon opened under him and was about to be his route of escape until,

"Not so fast!" Asta said, drawing Rades attention as he removed himself from the building and walked towards Rades.

"Asta, right? Don't worry, I'll finish you on a later day." Rades said as he rose his right hand. "And then, I'll make a fine puppet of your corpse! A moment we can both look forward to, you brat!"

Asta growled as he started running to Rades with plans to finish him, but saw that the black portal had begun to cover him and take him to safety.

'I'm not gonna make it! It's too far!' he thought as he watched Rades' escape.

'He doesn't have the energy to make it, he must've use too much!' Noelle thought in worry as she continued to try and stop Fuegoleon's bleeding.

Asta kept running as he remembered Fuegoleon's advice of remaining calm.

'Come one, there has to be a way to stop him! I only have enough power for one more spell and I gotta make it count.' he thought as he came to a stop. 'Wait, maybe that could-' he thought as he came up with a desperate idea.

 **"Iron Shadow Dragon Mode!"** Asta shouted as he covered his already iron scaled body in shadows.

Asta acted quickly and turned into a shadow, speeding towards Rades and somehow, under the black portal. This shocked everyone as Asta flew out of the portal and grabbed Rades by his shirt collar as they both were shot in the air, away from Valtos' portal.

"What?!" Valtos said in shock.

"The hell?!" Rades said in equal shock.

"Even inside a portal, there's no place a shadow can't go!" Asta said as he focused his shadowed into his right hand, drawing it back and forming a fist. **"Iron Shadow Dragon Crushing Fist!"**

Asta drove his fist into Rades' face, throwing him to the ground and into the building that was behind them.

"AH! You little bastard, you're gonna pay for this pain, you worm!" Rades said as he rubbed his left cheek.

"How unfortunate." Valtos said as he created another portal under Rades.

This attempted failed once again as Asta landed on the ground and launched himself at Rades, grappling with him as Asta took him into the wall and into a shadow with him. The shadow moved away from the portal and onto the top of the building next to the one Valtos is standing on before Asta pulls himself and Rades, with Asta's hands still at his collar, out. Asta then lowered his power and returned to his normal, the cut of his cheek still their but he ignored it, as he glared at Rades with anger.

"After all that you've done, after all the pain you've wrought, you're whining over one punch?" Asta said as he brought Rades closer, glaring into his eyes. "You don't know pain but you're gonna!"

Asta then gave a strong headbutt to Rades, forcing him back and the the edge of the building. He would've fallen if Asta didn't grab him by his shirt collar again with his right hand, keeping him in place.

"You tortured countless people, people who did nothing to you and laughed through all of it!" Asta said as he punched Rades again.

Rades grunted a bit before looking at Asta. "Stop! Those people you worry about, them being in pain only proves how weak they are when faced with great power! It's the natural order, always had been and always will be!" he finished as he lift his right hand, summoning more of his magic to kill Asta. "And you! You are no different, you swine!"

Rades thrust his hand forward to blast Asta in the face, but failed when Asta was faster and knocked his arm to the side, forcing him to fire the blast into the other building.

"You say I'm a swine?" Asta said as he let go of Rades. "Well, what does that make you?!"

Asta then charged at Rades and jumped, driving his knees into Rades' chest as it force both of them off the building roof and plummeting to the ground.

"You say you're strong but I'm proving to be stronger!" Asta said as he grabbed Rades by the shirt and drove him into the ground, cushioning his own fall as the crazed man was embedded into the concrete. "And I'll keep getting stronger until I become the Wizard King!"

Rades grit his teeth in pain as Asta lift him from the ground and threw him back, barely able to stand as he turned his head to his comrade. "Valtos, I could use some help here!"

Valtos just continued to watch as he witness Asta's magic and strength. "I'm afraid I've done all I can. His magic, it's like nothing I've ever seen and it's tricky to understand. He'll need to be dealt with if we don't want anymore problems."

The man then raised his hand and and formed a portal above him as Noelle finished stopping Fuegoleon's bleeding. She turned her attention to Valtos' other hand and saw it was full of magic energy.

"He gathering power for something but what? What's he up to now?' Noelle thought as she heard something.

She looked back and saw that another portal was opening behind Asta and put the pieces together. 'He's going to attack from behind!' Noelle thought before shouting, "Asta, behind you!"

Asta turned his head and saw the black portal start to expand, about to consume him.

"This is the end!" Valtos said as he raised his left hand full of energy.

He was about to launch his attack until a light drew his attention. Valtos quickly dodged to his right as the light was revealed to be spiraling blast of fire magic, landing on the building that Asta and Rades once stood on. He look towards the source of the attack and found that it came from Leopold, who had finally snapped out of his shock and was ready to rejoin the fight.

"Getting emotional won't save us." Leopold said as he breathing heavily. "Always stay calm, right, big brother? Now, let's do this, Asta!"

"Please, both of you, be careful!" Noelle said in worry.

Asta then dug into his pocket and pulled out his small bag full of nails, quickly eating some as he prepared himself for another battle by turning his right arm into his iron sword with spikes.

"What should I do? I'm running out of options and I can't afford to lose a valuable piece like Rades just yet." Valtos said to himself as he looked down and saw Asta and Leopold walking towards him.

"Stay back! Stay back, I said!" Rades said as he walked backwards until he and everyone heard a random male voice.

"Pathetic." he said, causing everyone to stop and listen. "I come after receiving order from the master and see you fight like this? Truly pathetic."

The mysterious voice ceased his words as white steam surrounded Asta, Leopold, Noelle who was still by Fuegoleon's body, and Rades. The steam soon disappeared and revealed several people in white hooded robes with a design of a long black line going down the middle with 3 eyes and a key going through the eyes, surrounding them.

'This magic, it's freezing!' Asta thought as he felt it.

'I've never experienced something so cold, so piercing.' Noelle thought as she felt it as well. 'Not even from Nozel.'

'So, 5 more of them have joined the battle?' Leopold thought as he looked around.

'This is bad, especially with this curse on my cheek and scratches on my body. They won't heal.' Asta thought as he look at his body. 'If I get anymore injuries or lose to much blood, I'll be in deep trouble.'

"Ugh." Rades said as he broke the silence. "I don't recall asking or wanting any extra help!"

"Really? You might want thank instead of complain." said a female voice.

"What was that?" Rades said as he turn to the female, who had short black hair, dark red eyes, and black framed glasses.

"Because if we didn't show up to save you, you'd have been captured, cut open, gutted, and skinned alive." she said, giving her own disturbed version of what they would do to him while giving a crazy laugh. "And if you do get dissected, I wanna be the one to do it!"

"Just shut up, you crazy woman!" Rades said as he got his second wind. "It looks like the shoe is on the other foot now, huh, you brats?!"

What he expected was them to cover but what he got a Asta laughing a bit. The dragon slayer then brought his left hand to his right cheek, causing a bit of a glow as a square plate of iron appeared over it.

"Huh?" Noelle said as she saw this happen.

"What are you doing?" Leopold said in confusion.

"A small repair job for the curse cut! Now, I can fight without having to worry of it growing bigger!" Asta said as he prepared his iron sword as he glanced at Fuegoleon a bit. "Just watch and I'll show you more of what I can do."

Rades stood dumbfounded at the latest action and couldn't form the words.

'What the hell?! Did he just block the curse with his magic? What sort of idiot could or would do that?!' he thought as he continued to stare with his mouth slightly open.

The woman from before giggled a bit at the display and took a step forward. "Wow, I've never seen some do that before. This kid's interesting, mind if I dissect him?" she finished, pointing to Asta.

"Focus, put your habits aside and remember the mission." said a fellow hooded mage.

"Oh, party pooper." the woman said as she raised her hand and summoned some magic energy.

The other 4 hooded mages soon followed suit, planning to kill them all in one fell swoop.

"Let me tell you something, I've been fighting against the world since I was born." Asta said, drawing all their attention. "It doesn't matter what you throw at me or how many you've got on your side, I'll cut through all of you!"

Asta then activated his **Iron Shadow Dragon Mode** , surprising them a bit as he held his iron sword back, revealing the spikes to be darker with black mist coming over them and the main sword shinier. He then commanded the spikes to spin as a beast's silhouette appeared over him, with giant wings and glowing red eyes.

"Show me what's you've got!" he said as the dragon silhouette roared into the sky.


	25. Final Fight and A Goal Set!

**bulk Locke the the grim head: I know and it'll keep getting better.**

 **ShadowXZ2: Like I've been saying, I have plans for that!**

 **BanRedfox: Yeah, you don't but you'll see it here.**

As Asta and Leopold stood ready for battle, the hooded enemies stood still and didn't make any moves.

"Has he gone mad? Even against enemies of a higher number he still wishes to fight?" said a man named Geork with a strange scar on the left side of his face and pale blonde hair down the right side of his head, his hand raised with yellowish green magic surrounding it.

"Mad or not, it doesn't matter to me. I can still dissect him" said the same crazed girl, Sally, with a hand up, covered in purple magic.

All 5 enemies soon fired magic blasts, trapping our heroes and aiming to finish them off.

"Think again!" Asta said as the spikes on his sword started spinning around it. **"Iron Shadow Dragon Sword! Slashing Wave!"**

The dragon of iron and shadows swung his sword in a circle and sending a wave of shadow magic along with it, forcing Leopold and Noelle to duck to the ground as the waved countered the enemies magic attacks. The hooded enemies were surprised by this but quickly shook it off and kept firing, only to be met with the same result.

"Pointless resistance!" said Geork before as he and another fired again.

"Man, this kid doesn't know when to quit!" Rades said as he watched his comrades fire at Asta.

Asta ignored their words and continued slashing his sword and sending more shadow magic to destroy their attacks.

"Oh! I remember this one!" said Sally, the crazed smile still present on her face.

"This must be that "dragon slayer" boy that possessed extremely rare magic. The master told us of about him." said Geork.

The enemies ceased their attacks as Asta stopped his sword spike's from spinning and glared at them with heavy breathing. He remembered Fuegoleon's about his fearlessness and calm if he wanted to achieve his goals.

"Don't worry, captain. I can keep my cool and tear these bastards to pieces!" Asta finished with a smile.

"Unlikely, boy." said Geork, preparing to strike until he recoiled at a bright light.

 **"Flame Magic! Exploding Flames!"** Leopold said as he rose to his feet and launched multiple fireballs in multiple directions.

The enemies were quick on their feet and began to dodge or countered the fireball with their own attacks.

"Don't think I've forgotten what you have done to my brother and expect to get away with it!" Leopold said with an angry scowl. "I swear that by the end of this, you all will be defeated!"

The young lion then set his right hand ablaze and went to strike one of the enemies but he was faster and quickly stepped back.

"How bout it, Asta?" Leopold asked, conjuring more fire in his left hand. "Let's take these creeps down together!"

"Oh, yeah!" Asta said while punching on in the face with his left fist. "Jump on in and start beating 'em!"

One of the hooded wizards then fire beam of green magic but Asta quickly turned into a shadow before speeding toward the wizard. As the beam stopped, Asta burst from the ground yelling and brought down his sword on the enemy but missed. Leopold, who was also giving a battle cry, soon followed suit with a flame attack to another before Asta charged at Geork and gave an uppercut, sending the man in the air until he flipped and landed on his feet holding his chin.

'These two are wild beasts, fighting with everything they have as if it were their last stand.' Geork thought as he saw Asta and Leopold back to back with their magic in their hands.

"RRAAAHHH!" they yelled.

'Even against odds like this, they hold no fear!' Geork thought.

Rades, who was behind Geork, was watching the fight happen but wasn't doing any fighting as he was still recovering from his beat down from Asta.

"Are you serious? How hard is it to killed a pair of idiots?!" he said in slight frustration.

"I wouldn't be talking since you couldn't even defeat one!" Geork countered as he and his other 4 allies powered up their magic, ready to fight another 5 point attack. "These two weren't part of the plan but they've made themselves target!"

The 5 hooded enemies soon fired their attacks, meant to destroy them but were met with a dome of water, Noelle's **Sea Dragon's Lair.**

"Nice work, Noelle!" Asta said as he and Leopold turn to Noelle, who was still protecting Fuegoleon.

"If they think I would let my friends die so easily, then they made a grave error!" she said, holding her wand out.

This surprised the enemies as they all stared the the dome of water.

"Well, I must say this is some nifty protection magic." Sally said as she stare and admired the dome.

"Indeed." Geork commented as he looked towards Noelle. "It seems this girl, by her looks, is of the Royal house of the Silva family."

This caught the attention of another hooded enemy who open his greenish white grimoire and turned the pages.

"In that case, I say we counter with a spell befitting her status." he said as his grimoire stopped turning it's pages. **"Tree Creation Magic. Magic Draining Roots."**

The enemy's spell soon made large roots appeared around Noelle's spell and slowly spread around it before sticking it's roots in.

"Asta!" Noelle said in a panic.

"I see it!" Asta said, staying on guard.

"What's it doing?" Leopold said as he kept his eyes on the roots.

His answer soon came as the roots started to about the water defense spell, leaving Asta and Leopold vulnerable.

"His spell. It's swallowing mine!" Noelle said, watching the act happen.

"Hm." the man said with a smug smile as his spell ACTUALLY belched from it's meal.

Taking a chance to attack, Asta and Leopold charged to attack him with iron, shadows, and fire but didn't get the chance.

"Impressive instincts in battle." Geork said as he opened his green grimoire. "But you'll need more than that to win!

He then summoned several spiral of spin in the air before him and called out his attack.

 **"Wind Creation Magic. Death by Tornado Needles."** Geork said as he launched several, long needles of condensed air at them.

Asta saw this and quick tried to counter. **"Iron Shadow Dragon Roar!"** he commanded as he took and quick breath and unleashed a small breath attack, stopping only half of the needles and allowing the remaining half to pierce through Asta and Leopold's bodies multiple times. The two Magic Knight then fell to the ground with groans as their magic ceased, causing Noelle to worry.

"Are you two okay?! Please, say something! Anything!" she shouted.

Rades then gained a smug smile once again as he watch from behind Geork, who was powering up his attack once again.

"Now, to end this." he said as he was about to launch 5 more attacks.

"NO! Stop!" Noelle said, watching helplessly.

Suddenly, something came diving in from the sky and blocked Geork's wind needles. This caused everyone to gasp in shock and hang their mouths open as the object appeared to be some sort of giant, silver bubble.

"Oh! Cool! I've never seen this kind of magic before!" Sally said, still smiling.

A silence filled the air as the bubble popped and revealed all of the Magic Knight that were teleported away from the capital had returned.

"You're back!" Noelle said, equally surprised.

"The other Magic Knight!" Geork said in shock.

"Dammit!" Rades said in frustration and panic.

Up on the roof where Valtos had continued to view the battle and the arrival of the knight, Alecdora then landed on the roof next to the one Valtos was on.

"You'd have to be fools to belive such a distance can keep us away." he said, facing the man responsible.

"So, you've returned. But how?" Valtos asked, keeping his cool as he eyed the Golden Dawn Knight. "That distance was no joke."

"Through teamwork, we were able to return. Though cooperation wasn't easy and if I had to name the spell used, I'd call it **Super Compound Magic.** " Alecdora said, remembering all of them riding on a strange tower with wings and a swirling tip.

Hamon, a Golden Dawn with blond hair and a chubby body, laughed a bit as he held his chin and stood next to Siren. "Combining our talents instead of fighting for dominance. What a marvelous idea."

"I guess a man isn't completely useless, huh?" Sol commented as she stood next to her captain, Charlotte.

"Indeed. They do have their days now and then." the Blue Rose captain said.

"An act such as this disgusts me." Solid said with a frown.

"Agreed. We Silver Eagles don't play well with others." Nebra said with a small smile.

"Even so," Nozel started as he stepped forward. "It is our duty to protect our kingdom, not matter the situation or our feelings about each other."

As the Silver Eagle captain stared at Geork and his allies, Mimosa noticed something and went to a down Fuegoleon, who grimoire was still in the same state..

"Oh my! What happened?!" she said as she kneel down to him.

"He was badly hurt. Can you help him?" Noelle said, feeling relive the Mimosa was here.

"It's horrible. Who could do this to such a strong captain like Fuegoleon?!" Mimosa wondered as he grimoire open and she started healing him in her plant dress with wings.

As she went to work, she gazed upon Asta and Leopold, who hadn't moved in some time.

"Please, check Asta and Leopold. Are they breathing?" she wondered as Klaus answered her prayer and went to Asta to help him up.

"Come on! Wake up, Asta!" he shouted in worry but kept his calm.

Asta then let out a small grown and moved a bit, relaxing Klaus worries that he wasn't dead.

"Good, you're alive." Klaus said as he gazed upon the enemies. "To defeat knight of their strength, how powerful are these enemies?"

As the question went unanswered, Valtos quickly opened a portal and appeared behind Geork.

"Our loses will be grave if we do not retreat now. We must go." he said, prioritizing the situation.

This didn't work as well as he thought it would as Nozel opened his grimoire.

"Leaving so soon?" he asked before commanding. **"Mercury Magic! Rain of Silver!"**

His attack of silver rain soon appeared over Geork and his allies, about to stop them until Sally opened her grimoire.

 **"Gel Magic! Sticky Salamander!"** she said with both hands raised as a giant salamander made of blue gel appeared over her and her allies.

Though it was a surprise, it didn't affect Nozel in the slightest.

"If you think that is powerful enough to with stand my silver rain, then you are sorely mistaken." he said without batting an eye.

"Oh, well in that case." Sally said as she held up a giant hypodermic needle filled with pink fluid before sticking the needle in her gel salamander. **"Dark Magic Item! Property Boost: Absorb!"**

As the fluid enter the salamander, it turned the same color as the substance in the vile and as the silver rain fell on the the salamander, they weren't doing any damage and were being absorb by the gel creature as it's master cheered.

"Impossible! It's absorbing the captain's magic like it were normal rain drops!" Klaus said in shock as he still held Asta up.

'How? Where did she get that kind of item?' Nozel thought as gazed upon the item and Sally as the girl made her hand into a peace sigh with her thumb out.

This action commanded the salamander to raises is right front leg and use it to grab Asta from Klaus' hold.

"Asta!" he said in surprised as the salamander formed a gel bubble around him and dropped him in front of Sally.

"Gotcha!" she said, holding the bubble with Asta inside.

Geork saw this and asked, "What are you going to do with him?"

Sally just giggled and sang, "It's a secret!"

Without saying another word, Geork closed his grimoire and lean his head down to kept his hood over his face. "This is it for now, Magic Knights, but before we go remember this. We are the Eye of the Midnight Sun by our hands, the Clover Kingdom shall be at our mercy!"

As the warning ended, Valtos used his magic to create a portal large enough to swallow the grouped and the captured dragon slayer, only leaving residual drops of the gel salamander.

"ASTA!" Noelle said in shock as her crush was taken right before her eyes.

-Timeskip, Sunset. Location, Unknown.-

The group of wizard known Eye of the Midnight Sun with a still prisoner Asta exited their portal in front of a strange castle as Geork began to scold Rades.

"How could you put your need for revenge over the mission? And now, we are left with a less than satisfatory result." he said with a judgmental tone of voice. "It doesn't matter if the master has taken a liking to you, it's no excuse to get cocky!"

The ground then started making their way to the castle as Geork continued to scold Rades on his actions.

"Flaunting those creatures left and right, taking on a captain alone. Those are the actions of a fool who doesn't know his limits." he said, finally getting a reply from the corpse user.

"Just drop it, already!" Rades replied, not wanting to hear his failure.

"If you had stuck to the plan, things would've resulted differently." said Geork, not even looking at Rades as he continued to walk towards the castle doorway.

"I don't see why you have a right to complain since it was my puppets who did most of the hard work!" Rades said, getting angry at his fellow member.

"Now, now, let's not forget about Catherine." Sally said as she still held an unconciuos Asta in a bubble of gel. "She was capture, so we're not the bad in comparison."

"Heh! Like I care about that hag!" Rades said without care for his ally.

"Enough of your squabbling." Valtos said, walking behind Rades.

"I still don't see the problem. I mean we got what we wanted, right?" Rades said, ignoring Valtos complaint to stop the bickering.

Valtos then stop in his tracks and addressed a certain problem. "One more thing. Sally," he said turned to the girl as she was walking behind him. "This prize of your's can't come with us. He may be powerful but he can still be a problem, kill him."

This seemed to get a reaction out of the crazed girl as she waved her arms up and down while giving her point.

"Are you crazy?! There's no way I'm throwing away a specimen like him! He doesn't use simple iron or shadow magic, but he has dragon magic, a magic no one has ever scene before!" Sally said, going on about Asta's magic as the wizard himself was starting to wake up.

'Wh-where am I? What am I floating in?' He thought as he noticed the curse cut on his right cheek was healing. 'This stuff, it's healing my cut but how?'

He looked forward and saw the wizards that attack his home were discussing something but was muffled a bit.

"Only those who were chosen by the master my came, the likes of him are nothing but trouble." Geork said as he walked between Valtos and Rades. "Kill him before the master arrives."

"Aw!" Sally groaned as she didn't want to kill him but study him.

"If you don't want to, I could kill him for ya! With his power, he'd make an excellent addition to my puppets!" Rades said with a smile as she stepped towards Sally.

This seemed to get Asta attention as he finally was about to gather his senses.

'Oh no. That is bad! I've been captured!' He thought as Sally noticed that he was awake right as Rades said "No fair!"

"Oh you're awake! Great!" Sally said as she removed her hood, showing Asta her unkempt, short black hair.

'A girl?' Asta thought as he stared at her.

"You can help convince them that keeping you would be a good thing! I'll study you and you rare magic! And then I'll experiment on and dissect you!" Sally ranted as she looked with eyes filled insanity and curiosity at Asta. "You wanna help me, right?! You wanna help me with my research! I'll analyze every single cell and leave nothing unchecked, I promise! Just think of what we could discover about your magic!"

This sent Asta's advanced instincts to go into overdrive as he heard this girl ramble on and on about what she wants to do with him, drawing to one, rational conclusion in Asta's mind.

'THIS GIRL IS INSANE!' he thought with a look of shock before he tried to move or summon his magic to get out of this situation. 'Crud! I can't move and I can't summon my magic! Is this stuff I'm in responsible?'

The Midnight Sun group then entered the castle with Sally still begging to keep and study Asta.

"Come on, Geork! Don't make my beg anymore! Please, please, please, please, please!" Sally said, continuing to beg.

Geork finally accepted defeat and sighed before saying, "Just leave me out of it, and he's yours."

"YAY!" Sally cheered as Rades counted.

"No! Give him to me!" he said as Sally replied, "Not a chance!"

Their talk was soon cut short as someone stepped from behind a pillar to stop the group in it's tracks but they were all shocked, especially Asta, to see that the one who stop them was the Wizard King, Julius, himself!

"Hi, you know it's not nice to keep people waiting." he said with the usual smile.

"What?!" Geork said as he thought, 'The Wizard King, Julius Novochrono, is here?!'

"Oooh!" Sally let out in interest.

"No way! How did he find us?!" Rades said in slight panic.

'Why is he here? How is he here?!' Geork thought in worry as Julius kept smiling at him.

"I hope you all had a pleasant visit to the capital." he said, not acknowledging the mood of the room.

"Quickly, kill him!" Geork said as he got into a stance.

But the moment he said the, Julius moved and unimaginable speed and appeared between two hooded members of the Midnight Sun, holding up his hands and creating orbs of magic before firing them, taking out two of them in less than an instant. Everyone was left in a state of shock as the incredible display before them.

"How did you-" Geork started until he was cut off.

"Mu apologies but it's to restraint you all this way." Julius said, not even tired by his actions.

The Midnight Sun quickly retaliated and tried to stop him but the Wizard King was too strong as he simply blast a tree spell that was heading for him into dust. This caused the enemy group to freak out even more as Rades started screaming.

"This all started when you attack the capital and now you're scared? he stated, staring the the group of enemies and a trapped Asta. "You should've known that when you try to kill, you should be ready to die yourselves."

'I knew he had to be powerful to be the Wizard King but this is beyond my imagination.' Valtos thought in worry. 'And with my magic drained...'

"Hey, how about this?" Julius started getting the remaining people's attention. "Your skill is impressive but taking on all of you would be too exhausting. So, how about this? The first to surrender lives, how about it?"

This, which would easily be a good deal for a lucky person, lead the way to one simple answer from all of the Midnight Sun members.

"Not a chance." Geork, Rades, Sally, Valtos, and a hooded member said at the same time before attacking.

Geork attacked with wind needles, Sally attacked with gel blasts, Valtos with blasts of magic, and Rades with his blasts magic. Though, this soon proved to be pointless as Julius was moving at incredible speeds once again and dodging all of their attacks like they were nothing.

"Impossible, no one should be able to move that fast!" Geork said as he saw Julius stopped before disappearing again.

"How about a test then?" Julius spoke as he appeared behind them. "I wanna see if it'll work on this many."

The Wizard King then held his hand up and forming a bright orb of blue magic.

 **"Time Binding Magic! Chrono Statis!"**

As he activated his spell, all of the member of the Eye of the Midnight Sun were suddenly placed in blue sphere with a single line of roman symbols on it, freezing their bodies in complete paralysis.

'What the hell?!' Rades thought as his body refused to move inside the floating bubble.

'My body won't move!' Geork thought as his and everyone else's bodies were frozen.

'I'm struck.' Valtos thought as Julius admired his work.

"Wow what do you know? I got you all! I guess I overestimated you guys." he said with the same smile he wore when he revealed himself. "I hope you all enjoyed this because you'll be like that for quite some time."

Due to Sally being immobilized, the gel bubbled holding Asta feel apart and Asta fell to the floor but he didn't feel the pain as he was too shocked by the power the Wizard King just displayed.

"Oh, Asta!" Julius said seeing Asta on the floor. "It funny that we keep running into each other but it's still nice to see you."

"Uh, yeah. I guess" Asta said as he thought. '7 powerful mages and he beat them like their were nothing. It's not possible but he did it.'

Asta was left in a state of shock as Julius made his way towards him.

"You wanna be the Wizard King one day, right?" Julius asked, bringing Asta out of his shock a bit. "If you do, consider what you've seen here because this is only a fragment of what you have to outmatch to achieve your dream."

This shocked Asta even more than before, realizing that this is only a small piece of Julius' magic power!

'So, this is who I'm working towards surpassing. The strongest man I've ever known' Asta thought. 'The strongest mage in the Clover Kingdom and the man I need to surpass one day."

Julius then his left hand and offered it to Asta while asking, "Can you stand?"

Asta didn't seem to hear him as he continued his thoughts and rose to his knees on his own. 'This is him and all of his might, the Wizard King, right before me.'

He rose his head and stared at the hand, bringing confusion to Julius as Asta slammed his fist into the ground, breaking the stone floor.

'Get a grip, dammit! Quit shaking and stand up!' Asta thought as he finally rose to his feet. 'This isn't the time to be weak!'

As Asta was on his feet and trying to regain his breath, Julius decided to speak his mind again.

"Well, it looks like you can stand on your own. Good." he said as he turned to the enemy mages frozen by his magic. "Though I hate to say it, you folks have so very interesting magic."

Julius then turned away from the and started walking further into the Eye of the Midnight Sun's castle. "Now, while we're here, I need you to answer some questions."

Julius then walked past Asta, who turned his head to follow and saw something very strange. A big stone tablet with multiple jewels embedded in it was standing in the middle of the hall with a light shinning down on it.

"This tablet with the jewels, what are using it for?" Julius asked, not getting answer due to the enemies being frozen in his time magic. "I've never seen writing or a patterns like this before. What were you trying to do with it?"

He then walked towards them and continued to talk, "Actually, you can't answer since you're trapped in my spell right now. We'll have to head back to the Clover kingdom first before we can have a nice chat."

It was then Julius stopped talking and lose his smile as both he and Asta felt a sudden rise in magic while the tablet behind them started to glow.

"Hey, do you feel-" Asta said in a low voice as Julius nodded and replied, "Stay on guard, something's coming."

It was then a bright light shinned in the room and Asta had to cover his face with his arms so he couldn't be blinded.

"Urh! This light!" he said looking down as Julius didn't even cover his eyes.

As the light shinned, a mage in the similar yet superior robe than other members of the Midnight Sun mages wore descended upon the tablet and looked down at Asta and Julius.

"This light and this power, where are they coming from?!" Asta wondered as he kept shielding his face.

The figure, who was a tall, slender-framed man with white skin, shaved eyebrows stylized as two red dots, red crescents with three buds framing the sides of his gold eyes, white hair is braided back into several long extensions with a Kippah covering the top of his head ending with a cross over his forehead with an eye etched into the center and wears jewelry, including looped earrings, continued to stare down at them with a small smile on his face, not showing an once of fear or worry at the sight of Julius and Asta.

* * *

Side Notes:

OC Spells, new number 5.

1\. Iron Dragon Kunai. Metal Storm. Chapter 10.

2\. Iron Dragon Sword. Spinning Slash. Chapter 13.

3\. Iron Dragon Cage. Chapter 21.

4\. Iron Shadow Dragon Crushing Fist. Chapter 21.

5\. Iron Shadow Dragon Sword. Slashing Wave. Chapter 25.


	26. Invasion Aftermath

**bulk Locke the the grim head: Condensed air and high speed, a combo that can cut through the toughest material. And thanks for the compliment to my work.**

 **ShadowXZ2: Thank you.**

 **BanRedfox: Thanks for the compliment.**

The light the blinded Asta but did nothing to Julius kept shinning brighter and brighter until suddenly it stopped, allowing Asta to finally see but his eyes were meet with nothing.

"Huh? What the?" Asta said as he looked around and saw that not only was the tablet gone but the imprisoned members of the Eye of the Midnight Sun too. "They're gone!"

"Yes, it appears he got away. He used light magic and able to go even faster then my time magic." Julius said as he walked to Asta. "To be able to gather his allies and that strange tablet in a matter of seconds, it's makes me wonder if he's their leader. Very fascinating yet very troubling."

The Wizard King gave a side glance and a smile before returning to the current situation.

"But not all is lost, we've still got one prisoner. That's better than nothing." he said as he looked to his right and saw that one Midnight Sun member was still in his **Chrono Stasis** spell.

It was then the Wizard King got a message in the form of a small white portal showing a man with bowl hair cut.

"I finally got through! Now sir, where are you?" he said with worry.

"Hey, hey, calm down, Marx. I'm fine but I've been very busy, so I had to suspend our Transmission magic suspended so I wouldn't be found out." Julius said with his usual smile.

"You can explain later sir but right now, you're needed at the kingdom's medical ward." Marx said, causing Julius to frown and Asta to gasp in remembrance.

'Fuegoleon!' he thought.

-Timeskip, Location: Clover Kingdom-

In the kingdom's medical ward, Fuegoleon and Leopold were currently unconcious on two round beds and being healed by the kingdom's healers. On the outside of the building were the Magic Knight that fought to protect the kingdom, all worried for the two Crimson Lions.

"This is awful, please pull through you two." Mimosa said in worry as she stood next to Noelle.

"Poor guys, I hope they turn out alright and wake up." Sol said as she stood in between Siren and Charlotte.

"I hope the same." the Blue Rose captain said.

It was then Alecdora and Hamon walked up to the group and gace some news.

"We've restored the magic barrier and the transmission magic as well. More knights are currently searching for any enemies left behind." Alecdora said.

"Yes, the kingdom should be secure again and were current searching for that "lively" Black Bull boy too." Hamon said, choosing his words well and giving a hearty laugh.

This caused Noelle and Mimosa to gained worried looks as they still didn't know what became of the dragon slayer. It wasn't until Klaus spoke up to try and raise their spirits.

"He hasn't been gone long and we all know he's a fighter." he said to them before whispering to himself. "When I see that boy again, I am going to slap him silly for worrying us."I

It was then they all felt a sudden flux of magic in the air causing them to gasp before seeing the Julius, Asta, and the prisoner Midnight Sun member appear before them.

"Greeting everybody, nice work today." Julius said with a raise left hand and a smile.

"It's the Wizard King!" Mimosa said in surprise.

"And he has Asta!" Noelle said as she saw the king's right hand on Asta's left shoulder.

"Hey guys. Sorry if I worried you a bit." Asta said with a sheepish smile and his right hand up.

It was then that Sol noticed the floating, blue sphere with an enemy in it.

"Hey, he has a prisoner." she said as Asta walked towards his friends.

"Man, I seriously thought I was done for." he said as he rubbed the back of his head.

Noelle and Mimosa were happy to see him safe and sound but one of them just had to try and act like they weren't worried at all.

"As if! You got in over your head once again and you still don't learn!" Noelle said as she turned away.

"Thank goodness you're safe." Mimosa said with her hands together.

It was then Noelle was knocked to the side a bit as Klaus came running in and stood in front of Asta.

"You're back! And you safe! You worried us to death!" he said as he placed his hands on Asta's shoulders. "I never thought I'd see you again, my friend! Thank heavens your okay!" he then started to cry a bit and wipe tears from his eyes.

"It's alright, Four eyes. No need to cry." Asta said as he just stared at his sobbing friend.

'Weren't you going to slap him silly?' Noelle thought as she watched the display.

It wasn't until she and Klaus were knocked away by a charging Mimosa.

"You came back to us!" she said before she hugged Asta. "I'm so glad you're okay. I've been so worried."

It took about 3 seconds for Mimosa to realize the position she was in and broke the hug as Nero came flying to Asta and started pecking him. A little while later, Julius was standing in front of everyone and had just been told about what had happened while he was gone.

"I see, so they don't know when he'll wake up? And all because of my misjudgment. If we were to lose a knight such as him." he said with a frown as he looked towards the sky.

"Don't blame yourself sir, it was our inexperience that cost us this day." Charlotte said as she tried to ease the man's guilt. "Also, it appears that the pendant Fuegoleon possessed has gone missing."

"It's gone?" Julius said.

"Indeed and it's possible that the attack on the Capital was a cover to acquire it. Any ideas of who these enemies might be sir?" Charlotte said as Julius gazed to his left.

"Afraid not but I have heard rumors about them and if what you say about their message was true, then they appear to have a grudge against the Clover Kingdom." he said as he recalled the message his knight told him. "However, I don't think it's as simple as that."

The Wizard King then thought back to the giant stone tablet and all of the jewels embedded in it. 'Those jewel, they were arranged in a pattern but some spots were still empty. Could the pendant they took be one that was meant to go in one of them? And what happens when all the slots are filled? It appears Charlotte's theory is correct and they targeted Fuegoleon because he had the jewel.' he thought as a picture of Fuegoleon, standing proud and strong came to mind. 'However, maybe they sought to remove him because he might've interfered with their plans. We've been secretly investigating multiple dissidents but this is the first I've been able to link them all to one single group, one that is stronger than I could anticipated. And with this large scale attack with immense power, it's clear that I should've remained in the capital to stop them.'

"We'll interrogate the prisoner later, who ever he or she is." Julius said as he turned to the knights. "Right now, I want you all to do one thing. Preserve the peace and put everything on the line and fight for the Clover Kingdom."

"Yes sir!" they all said until Nozel and his siblings minus Noelle left.

"If you'll excuse us sir, we'll be going." he said as he, Solid, and Nebra walked away.

'What's with him? I thought we were having a moment.' Asta thought as he watched them leave.

"There's an old saying," Julius said, gaining Asta's attention. "Don't wake a sleeping lion but it appears our enemy has awoken a sleeping eagle instead."

It was then Asta sort of understood why the Silver Eagles left in such a hurry, their captain, Nozel, saw Fudgoleon as a friend and was hurting to find out that he was gravely injured and couldn't do anything about it sense he wasn't there to fight. And it looks like Nozel wasn't the only one.

"Oh, whoa is me. To feel this useless leave a sour feeling in my heart." Hamon said as he lost his smile. "I hope nothing like this ever happens again."

"It won't cuz we wont let it." Sol said as he clenched her left into a fist.

"Indeed, for we will get strong from this point on." Charlotte said as she and everyone gazed at Julius.

"That's good to hear." the Wizard King said as he regained his smile.

It wasn't even 3 seconds later that the door to the medical ward open and out came a still recovering Leopold, drawing everyone's attention with his shout.

"And I'll be the strongest of all!" he said as he leaned against a column near the door.

"Leopold!" Mimosa said, worried that he isn't ready to be up and moving yet.

"You need to go back and rest." Noelle said, feeling the same way as Mimosa.

"I'm glad to see that you survived too, Asta! I'd expect no less from my rival to escape death as well!" Leopold said as he got off of the column. "We both must become stronger and become greater knight then those before us!"

Asta continued to stare at Leopold, silently agreeing with him, as he continued his speech.

"I swear on this day, I will become even stronger than my brother! And then I will be the next Wizard King!" Leopold said with a smirk on his face. He raised his left thumb and ignited it in flames. "And now for this."

Leopold then placed the flaming thumb against his head as he remembered his brother's words towards the mark on his forehead. "This mark is a symbol of overcoming one's limitations and becoming a king. It is the oath of our family name, Vermillion, and to one's self."

"This mark is the my oath given form." Leopold said as he took his thumb off of his forehead and revealed a diamond with lines curved inward.

Asta smiled at his oath as he made his way towards Leopold. "Great speech and an even greater oath but I have to disagree with you on one thing." he said as he stopped in front of Leopold. "I'm afraid you won't be the Wizard King because that job is going to be mine!"

Leopold met Asta's smile and said, "If that's the way it's gonna be then may the best man win, Asta!" he then held out his hand and said, "But that man is gonna be me, Leo! Your rival!"

"Hm! We'll see about that, Leo!" Asta said as he took Leopold's/Leo's hand and shook it.

After the promise was made and the new rivalry ignited, a multitude of things followed. The kingdom began it's repairs to the Capital, Julius had gave a speech about the invasion and promised his people he would fight to protect them, the reason that the kingdom had been invaded was revealed that the mages in charge of the barrier had disappeared, and everything had calmed down a bit.

-Timeskip-

It was now a new day in the kingdom and currently, Asta and Noelle were meeting with the same little girl in a yellow dress that they had protected from Rades during the invasion.

"Thank you so much for saving me, your bravery was amazing!" she said with Nero sitting on her head once again.

"Anytime. It's what we do." Asta said as he gave a thumbs up to the girl.

"Indeed, we are Magic Knight after all." Noelle said as she looked away, blushing at the compliment.

"Either way, as a token of my appreciation, I want you to have these." the girl said as she held up a basket of cupcakes. "I made them from scratch."

Asta took the basket and looked closely at the pastries, admiring their appearance and wanting to try them. "These look amazing!" he said, complimenting the girl.

The girl gave a smile and bowed to Asta. "Thanks again for saving me. I'll see you later." she said as she left Asta and Noelle with Nero flying off her head and back to Asta's head.

The two Magic Knight watched with smiles as the girl went back to her family but didn't notice a small hand reach for the basket and yank it out of Asta's hands until the person made a sound.

"Yummy cupcakes!" Charmy said as she took the basket and placed it on the ground before taking one and eating it.

"Huh?" Noelle let out as the food loving Black Bull appeared out of nowhere.

"Charmy, what are you doing here?" Asta asked, wanting to know why she was here and eating HIS and NOELLE'S reward cupcakes.

The little bull turned around and put her fists on her hips before giving her reply with a mouth covered in cupcake, "If there is delicious food, then that is where I will be. But don't worry, I can share." she said, thinking that they were originally her's when they were not.

Charmy quickly turned back towards the basket and brought out two cupcakes to give to Asta and Noelle. "Wanna try? Go on, you know you want to?"

Asta and Noelle just stared at their fellow member, a little confused to what she was thinking.

"Um, you do know those are our cupcakes, right?" Asta asked, silent question Charmy's mindset when it comes to food.

"It's alright, I don't mind sharing with you." Charmy said as she shook her head from left to right. She then raise the cupcakes up to them. "Go on. Eat up, guys."

"Um, thanks?" Asta said as he took the plain cupcake with some frosting on top in Charmy's right hand.

"I suppose I can honor this and accept it." Noelle said as she put on the snotty attitude and took the cupcake with seeds on top in Charmy's left hand.

Both Black Bulls ate the confections and gained looks of satisfaction.

"That's delicious!" Asta said.

"I'll admit, it's better than I thought." Noelle said with a look that countered her somewhat mean words.

No more than a second later, Charmy started to sing and skip around the basket while holding another cupcake. This drew their attention as it seemed Charmy was a lot more cheerful than usual.

"La la la! La la la!" she said as skipped.

"Um, are you alright? You seem a lot happier today." Asta said.

"Yes, what's with you?" Noelle asked, curious to why she's doing this.

"It is because I have meet my destiny, it's grown up stuff. You wouldn't understand." Charmy said as she stopped her skipping with a mouthful of cupcakes. "It happened at the castle where the banquet took place."

"Huh?" Asta let out as he took another bit of his cupcake. "You mean during the invasion?"

"How did you get in? And how did we now notice?" Noelle asked, wondering how she got snuck in.

"Here, let me show you." Charmy said as finished her cupcake and opened her grimoire.

The food lover's grimoire glowed and soon, she was surrounded by a ball of cotton. The ball floated in the air before growing smaller and floating into the back of Asta's Black Bull robe, shocking the dragon slayer that Charmy used him as a Trojan Horse!

"You used me to sneak in?! What the heck?!" Asta shouted.

'Wow. It's not just her appetite but magic is incredible as well.' Noelle thought as she watched the spell.

Asta turned his attention from Charmy in his robe as he smelled a familiar scent and turned to his left, seeing Yuno, Mimosa, and Klaus walking on a higher part of the kingdom towards who knows where.

"Hey, look over there." he said before he turned his body and waved. "Hey, guys!"

The Golden Dawn caught this and stopped.

"There's only one person who yells like that." Klaus said as he, Yuno, and Mimosa turned towards the noise to see Asta and Noelle.

"Hi, Asta! Hi Noelle!" Mimosa said as she waved back.

"Is your stomach wound healed? Wait, I've already asked that, didn't I? Klaus asked, being a bit forgetful.

"Yeah you did and yeah it's fine! Don't worry so much!" Asta said before setting his sight on his foster brother, not noticing Charmy floating out of his cloak. "Hey, Yuno! I heard you finished a powerful any enemy like it was nothing! What the heck?!"

"Why is he mad about that?" Yuno asked as he stared at Asta.

"OH! My prince is here!" Charmy said with a blush as she got out of her cotton ball spell.

Unknown to Asta and Noelle, ever since the banquet that Charmy snuck in and ate while everyone else was defending the Capital, she had met Yuno after he unintentionally saved her food and instantly fell in love with him.

"What?! Are you so high and mighty now that you won't say hi or something?!" Asta shouted as he pointed to Yuno.

This drew Charmy's attention as she turned to Asta and asked, "HUH?! How do you know him?"

"So, you think you're so powerful, don't ya?!" Asta said, ignoring Charmy. " Come on! One "hello" isn't gonna kill you!"

Yuno said nothing as he walked towards the edge of the sidewalk where he, Klaus, and Mimosa were walking before opening his grimoire. This confused Asta, Noelle, and Charmy until Yuno waved his hand and summoned a mighty wind that took the form of a giant hawk. He then launched the attack and scared Asta and Noelle a bit but impressed Charmy greatly. It would hit if Asta didn't quickly regain his senses and fired back.

 **"Iron Dragon Roar!"** He shouted as he fired tornado of iron.

The attacks clash in the air and struggled for dominance until they both explode in great force, causing a wave of wind the blow to both sides. When the wave clear, Mimosa and Klaus were shocked as Yuno held a blank look on his face.

"I might have overdone it." he said with a smoking hand.

"Are you crazy?! You could've killed him!" Klaus said, very shaken up from the sudden and unnecessary attack.

Meanwhile with the Black Bulls, Asta still stand while Noelle was on the ground with the same shocked look. Asta had lost his shock and gained a bit of a frown.

"Jeez, I didn't think the guy would try to kill me over some teasing! I didn't expect Golden Dawn to change him this much." Asta said until he and Noelle looked down, seeing the wind gather and form a message.

"Later, li'l Rasta." it said in cursive.

This cause Asta to get angry as he shouted back, with Nero on his head, "You jerk! You think you can just call me that and get away with it?! Let's go! Right here, right now!"

Asta kept shout at Yuno in anger but the Four Leaf wizard just turned around and walked away, causing Asta to get even angrier and shout more.

"Ah. The winds of true love. Oh my sweet prince." Charmy said as she laid on the ground with her hands on her chest.

After a minute of rambling, Asta let go of his anger and crossed his arms with a smirk on his face.

"I suppose we can have our fight later, when we're both more powerful." Asta said as he thought, 'It doesn't matter how strong you get Yuno, I'll just get even stronger!'

As Asta said this, Noelle stood behind him with her arms crossed as well before smiling and giggling a bit.

A bit later, everyone was back at the Black Bull headquarters and Magna and Luck had come back from a mission.

"Hey guys, how was your mission?" Asta asked.

Pretty good but man, it takes a lot of of ya!" Magna said as he had a satisfied smile on his face.

"Yeah it does!" Luck said, agreeing with Magna.

"It was worth it though, since we got a shiny star for it!" Magna said as he pumped his fist.

"That's great!" Asta said, happy that the Black Bulls were one star closer to catching up with the other squads.

"Tell him the rest, tell him about our new combo move!" Luck said as he got in Magna's face.

"No! You will never use that move again!" Magna said, remembering that the move consisted on him spinning in a tornado of lightning magic.

"Chuuuuuuu." Grey let out as he, Gauche, and Gordon sat in some chair and watched.

"I wish I could've been there to see it." Gordon mumbled but no one except Asta could hear him.

"Yeah, pretty soon, I may be leading this squad! Get ready cause the age of Magna is coming!" he said to Asta. "Stick with me kid, and you'll go place."

No seemed to mind his rambling as Yami was reading the newspaper with a cigarette in his mouth and Vanessa, in her underwear again, was asleep on the couch with win bottles around her.

"You got it but by the way. You'll never guess what happened." Asta said with a happy smile.

"What happened?" Magna said as he and Luck payed attention to Asta.

"They had a special Distinguished Service Ceremony after the invasion on the capital and they made a Junior Magic Knight, 3rd Class." he said with a smile as he rubbed under his nose.

This shocked them at first but then confused them because they didn't know until Yami spoke up.

"It's a Knight's ranking system, ya idiots." Yami said as he put his newspaper down and stood up. "You two haven't advance since you joined up and that means Asta is now a high ranking Knight than you, so show him some respect. He's a Junior, 3rd Class and you two are Junior 5th Classes."

"Wha?!" Magna said in shock and Luck said in amazement.

"They even made Charmy here a Junior Magic Knight, 1st Class." Yami said, blowing some smoke out of his mouth.

This cause Luck and Magna to look towards the food loving girl as she stoo with her hands on her hips.

"It's true, now bow before me, inferiors." she said with a smug tone in her voice.

"WHAT!?" Magna said in even greater shock as Luck just laughed.

Charmy then turned around and pointed to her back with her thumb. "Here is your place, my lower Juniors. Behind the great and powerful Charmy Pappitson." she said as she turned her head and gave a smug face to them.

Magne was sent into a state of sputter as Luck didn't look that different. Yami soon walked behind them and continued to give the news.

"Turns out, she took down one of the attackers. Though she might have just wanted to beat her up but whatever." Yami said as he saw Luck and Magna drop to their hands and feet while Charmy did a little dance.

"Good inferiors. Worship me, the powerful Charmy." She said as she repeatedly pushing her arms up to the ceiling and hopped one leg before alternating to the other leg.

This cause Magna and Luck to get miffed off.

"What's with that freaky little dance?!" Magna said as he grit his teeth.

"I'm sensing some resentment here." Luck said with his usual smile but had some tension in his voice, showing that he too was annoyed by this.

Asta just watched in curiosity as Yami turned and spoke, "Anyway, nice job, kid. You really stepped up."

"Yeah but," Asta said before he looked down. "what about Captain Fuegoleon? What if he doesn't wake up?"

Asta was worried for the Lion since he fought so hard and was worried that he won't be the same night as before. These worries were soon put aside as Yami spoke his mind.

"You're worried about him? Don't make me laugh." He said as he gained Asta's attention. "The stiff, no neck, flame loving royal won't die that easily. He'll probably wake up stronger than before."

Though Yami sounded like he didn't care, he was actually a kind person underneath when he needed to be and it showed it's result when Asta got his smile back and put the dark thought aside. Not noticing Noelle and Nero appeared next to him and on his head.

"You're right! I can't be worrying about someone as strong as him not making it!" Asta said as he turned around. "Okay, now to get back to training. Can't let myself get lazy!"

"Not a chance, kid." Yami said drawing Asta's attention. "You're banged up enough as it is, you need to rest or do you want to end up dead?"

'Says the man that made me go in the first place.' Asta thought as Noelle got in his face.

"He's right, you need rest." she said.

"Seriously, you too?" Asta said with a sigh.

It was then a sudden voice came in and drew everyone's attention.

"You got some time off, Asta?" said Finral as he came out of a portal with a thumb up. "Let's go to a mixer!"

This shocked Asta and Noelle as they both look at him for a second before saying, "A what?!"

"No way, you've got work to do." Yami said but it was ignored.

"Leave everything to me, my friend." Finral said.

"I said you have work." Yami said, trying to reach the loveless portal wizard.

"So much to do in so little time." Finral said, once again not hearing his captain.

"Do you wanna die?" Yami said in a threatening voice.

"Oh!" Finral said, turning to Yami and finally acknowledging him. "Did you wanna come too, sir?"

It was then the evening sky was filled with a primal roar and the sound of smashing.


	27. Mixer Mishaps

**bulk Locke the the grim head: Thank you. And it's alright.**

 **Devilslayer: I feel the ranking is just.**

 **BanRedfox: Yeah, I love Yami's threatening tendencies, too.**

 **Jose19: You must not have read the story well enough since Asta was bestowed magic.**

It was a calm ending to another day in the Black Bull headquarters as Finral, Asta, and Luck had been assembled in front of the door with a sleeping Vanessa not far from them. Luck and Asta were facing Finral as they had their backs to the door and payed attention to the "ladies man" as he was explaining the mixer to them.

"Are you sure it's fine to wear our robes?" Asta asked as he and Luck had straight and curious faces on.

"Of course, we wanna make it clear that we're Magic Knight. The people look up to us and I see no reason to not take advantage of that." Finral said as he sprayed some colon on the right side of his neck.

"Hmm, okay. I got it." Asta said as he smiled.

"Yeah, but what are they like?! Do we fight at the mixers or what?!" Luck said as he grew a smile and threw a few jabs to the air.

"I'm not sure, I've never been to one but you never know!" Asta said as he turned to Luck.

"Yeah, you never know." Finral said as a drop of sweat went down his cheek before he opened a white portal. "Alright, let's go guys."

Asta and Luck ran into the portal as Finral walked in, but unaware to all of them, Noelle had jumped in at the last moment, most likely to see what will happen.

-Location, Common Realm of Nean-

The location appeared to be a normal looking place with a few churches and people out enjoying their evening. The portal that Finral had made opened in front of one of the churches and the 3, unknown to the 4th, Black Bulls stepped out of it.

"There we go." Asta said as he ran out first before Luck and Finral.

Unknown to them, Noelle jumped out of the portal before quickly hiding behind a column of the church they appeared in front of. She then processed to follow Asta, Luck, and Finral through the streets of Nean while keeping to the shadows and trying to convince herself that she wasn't here because of the thought of Asta with another woman, failing miserably at it. The trio continued to waklked down the street as Finral tried to remember where he set his mixer up.

"Hm, now where was it?" he said be he looked up and found the place, The Dreavy Hinker. "There it is!"

Once inside the tavern, they could see it was hustling and bustling with customers all with smiles on their faces as they enjoyed there evening. Waitresses were moving back and forth at quick pace to keep up but they could handle it. Sitting at a table for six with drinks and food was Asta, Luck, and Finral sitting across from 3 young ladies, one with red hair in a red dress, Rebecca, one with blonde hair held in a covered bun wearing a blue dress, Helene, and one with black in a in dress, Erika.

"Now that everyone has their drinks, how about we start with introductions? Allow me to go first!" Finral said as he stood up from his seat.

Finral then opened a small portal and reached inside, pulling out a bundle of flowers and presenting them. He shut his left eye and held a peace sigh over it as he said "My name is Finral Roulacase. I'm 21 years old and a member of the Black Bulls. I'm from Touta and my specialty is Spacial Magic! Pleasure to meet you."

This got a better result than expected as the ladies in blue and pink dresses were impressed but the lady in red held a neutral face. Finral then handed each woman a flower.

"To honor our acquaintance, I present each of you with a freshly picked Moon Blossom, ladies." he said before returning to his seat in front of the black haired woman.

"Aw, how thoughtful." said Helene.

"These are very rare." said Erika. "Only blooming on Mount Anahu at night. They smell wonderful."

"Thank you very much." said Rebecca in an uninterested tone while looking away from Finral.

Finral held a confident smile and thought, 'Excellent, I've got their interest. This time, after tonight, I'll have myself a girlfriend. Now all I need is Asta and Luck to show their charming sides.'

He then turned to Luck and Asta and said while raising his hand, "Now guys, who would like to introduce themselves next?"

"I guess I'll go." Luck said as he thought, 'This should be easy. What could go wrong?' he then turned to the women and said with both his fists in the up. "My name is Luck Voltia. I'm 18 years old and I come from Ibon. I'm a member of the Black Bulls like Finral and my favorite thing to do is life or death battle against strong opponents! I live by the motto "do or die!""

Luck then surrounded himself with lightning magic, which then electrocute a plate of meat with a bone through it. The ladies gave no physical reaction to it as they figured it was something a Magic Knight would be excited and talk about.

'Okay, I'm next, gotta keep calm.' Asta thought as he was the next to introduce. 'What would a real man do? He would talk about his dream and stuff like his family. Okay, here goes!'

Asta stopped his thinking and stood up with Nero on his head, as always, and gave a smile while placing his right arm on his left shoulder, a bit of sweat was on his brow as he made his introduction.

"My name is Asta and I'm from Hage. I'm 15 years old, I'm a member of the Black Bulls, and my dream is to become the Wizard King." he said as he placed his arm back to his side.

'The Wizard King huh?' thought Erika as she smiled and had her eyes shut.

'Not a chance, he's just a kid!' thought Helene as she did the same facial expression as Erika.

'These guys look like trouble.' Helene and Erika thought at the same time while Rebecca still look uninterested.

'It's good that they're knights but why did they have to be Black Bulls? They're the lowest of the low.' Thought Erika as she opened her eyes and gazed towards Helene.

'I've heard of Hage. It's a commoner village.' Helene thought as she opened her eyes and looked towards Erika. 'And in the middle of nowhere.'

'If he isn't tall, handsome, and wealthy with a high social standing then me, what's the point of meeting him?' Erika thought as she and Helene shut their eyes and continued to hold their fake smile.

'This is a waste of time.' Erika thought.

As they kept their looks and as Luck and Asta talked, Finral picked up and the vibe of the table and thought, 'Uh oh. The not interested vibe.'

Finral then rose to his feet and said, "Alright! Now that we've introduced ourselves, let's here about you ladies. We're dying to learn more about you!" he finished pointed towards them with his left eye closed, trying to show them his style.

"Well, I don't really know how to start. We're all friends here. My name is Erika Taylor and I work for a dressmaker." Erika said.

"My name is Helene Barbary and I work at a barbershop." she said.

"I'm Rebecca Scarllet and I work in a restaurant." the red head said as she continued to stare to the side.

'It's confirmed, they're not interested.' Vinral thought as he sat down, closed his eyes and clapped a bit. "It's great to here you're all working and I'd love to hear more about what you do."

Finral then asked a question to each woman centered around their job, like new clothes, a fresh hairdo, and getting food at their establishment. This failed epicly as all three woman just give blank looks towards the Black Bulls.

'Well, that failed. Maybe a new topic could get the fire started.' Finral thought before he said, "Well then, would you like to hear about our duties as Magic Knights?"

This seemed to bring the ladies back to life as they finally responded.

"Oh yes, please." Helene said as she put her smile back on.

"Tell us all about it." Erika said as she smile too.

'Jackpot!' Finral thought before saying. "Well, it's nothing special but as a Spacial Magic user, I can travel to and see lots of different places. I could tell stories about what I've seen if you like." he finished as he made a small portal in his left hand.

"Please, tell us." Erika said as he got her attention.

But that was a big negative since in truth he had just been portaling Yami to rooms in the Black Bull headquarters lately, so he quickly diverted the attention towards his friends and said, "Luck! Why don't you tell us about your latest mission?"

"Me?" Luck said in confusion.

"Yes, go on now. It's rude to keep the ladies waiting!" Finral replied.

"Oh, okay." Luck them turned back to the ladies and told his story. "I've was fighting a couple of bandits and stopping them from robbing anyone."

"Yes, yes." Erika and Helene said with nods as they listened.

"And let me tell ya, it was a blood bath. I didn't need to kill them so I was nice and let them got with only a few bones still intact!" he finished with a smile on his face while the ladies stared at him with blank faces.

'This is not helping, Luck!' Finral thought in panic.

"And then there was this time I-" Luck started another story before his mouth was covered by Finral.

""That's enough of that, Luck! Thanks for the story, now why don't you help yourself to some food?" he said as he turned to Asta. "Now, why don't you share something, Asta? You did protect the capital during that invasion a while a ago, didn't you?" he finished as he point to Asta with both hands and his right eye shut.

"Oh! Yeah that's right." Asta said, still trying not to look nervous.

"Really? You mean the attack the other day?" Helene asked.

Erika then added as she leaned in a bit, "It must've been dangerous and scary."

"Yes it was but if I know Asta, he was fearless." Finral said, seeing things go smoother than before. "He was even promoted."

"Wow!" Helene and Erika said as they were impressed.

'That's it, keep it on track.' Finral thought as he felt things finally going smoothly.

"That's incredible." Helene said

"Yeah, the enemies we faced were tough but we walked away stronger. A few scars here and there but still breathing." Asta said as he patted his stomach, signalling that his wounds were there.

"That's awesome, Asta! You're even tougher than I thought." Luck said as he patted a celebratory slap on the stomach.

Asta flinched a bit but kept strong as his wounds were covered with some plates of iron.

'Yes. This night my be salvageable after all!' Vinral thought as he saw the ladies still looked at Asta with interest. 'Asta may not be smart but he's saving my butt!'

As this was going on and well, the anti magic bird on Asta's head turned to it's left and saw Noelle, in a waitress outfit, spying on them, mainly Asta. Things had gotten better at the table as Helene had started to display the magic, a floating pair of scissors made from bright green magic, she uses at her job.

"That's the magic you use at your job? That's pretty cool." Luck said as his excitement come out.

"Yeah, it's not much but it get the job done." Helene said as she cut a small lock of her hair.

"Amazing! It doesn't have much power but the control is incredible! Can you show me more?" he asked.

This caused Helene to blush a bit as no one had ever complimented her magic before. So to hear that a Magic Knight, even if it was a Black Bull, say it was amazing, brought made her feel a bit better about this mixer.

"Oh! Alright, sure." she said with a smile as she looked away and thought, 'His eyes, I can see the honesty in his words but how can someone so blood thirsty be so adorable? And what is this feeling in my stomach? Wait, do I secretly have a thing for dangerous men?'

Helene then decided to asked Luck to return to favor about magic.

"Hey Luck, if it's not to much, can I see your magic?" she said with the blush still on her face.

"Sure but it's a bit tight in here. How about we go out front and I can show you there?" Luck said, unaware that he had caught the girl's fancy.

"Great!" she said as she and Luck got up from the table and went outside.

This didn't go unnoticed by Finral as he gain a smile and watched them leave.

'Well done, Luck.' he thought before turning to Erika and saying, "Anyway, The sunrise is so amazing, you'll never forget it."

"Amazing." Erika said.

"If you want, I could take you there with my Spacial Magic sometime. If you'd like." Finral said, internally thinking he's found that one.

"I'd like that." Erika said with an honest smile.

Finral felt as though he got a keeper before noticing her drink was empty.

"Oh, it looks like you could use another drink." he said before turning towards a waitress. "Excuse me, ma'am, another round please!"

'He a bit too flashy and not really my type, but he's still the best out of the three.' Erika thought as a small blush appeared on her cheeks. 'He has the appearance of a noble, his Spacial Magic does come in handy, plus he's attentive.'

"Well then, shall we head towards the veranda and gaze upon the city?" Finral said, hoping she'd say yes.

"Sure, that would be lovely." she said as they got up.

Once they left, the only two still sitting at the table were Asta and Rebecca. It was deadly silent between the two as Asta didn't know what to say and Rebecca didn't really want to be here at all.

'So awkward, and she doesn't seem that interested.' Asta thought as he saw that Rebecca was still looking to the side. 'Is she angry about something or is she wishing to be with someone else right now. I gotta try and fix, stir up some conversation!'

"So, Rebecca, is there something you like to do outside of work? A hobby or anything?" Asta asked as Rebecca turned her eyes back to him.

"You don't have to try so hard to talk to me." she said with a sigh and took out a hair broach . "Honestly, it was Erika's idea to do this, she thinks I need someone in my live to help me with my siblings. But I don't want to be here and I've been worrying about them ever since."

"Oh, how many siblings?" Asta asked, finding a common thing in life they both share.

"I have little three brothers and two little sisters." she said, answering his question.

"No kidding, I have three brothers and two sisters too." Asta said, gaining a surprised look from Rebecca. "Though we aren't related by blood, I grew up with them and see them as my brothers and sisters. I miss them a lot since I left to become a Magic Knight. We may not have gotten along all the time but we had fun just being around each other."

Rebecca stared at Asta with new found interest, having met someone who knows what it's like to have a big family seemed to turned her evening around.

"Back at the church where I grew up, we had to share a room and were packed like sardines. After I joined the Black Bulls, I was happy to have a room to myself but it feels a bit lonely not have some restless siblings in there with you." Asta said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, totally! Sure, they can be annoying but you can't help but miss them when they're somewhere else." Rebecca said as she gained a small smile.

"I know! And I know it's weird, but they helped me stay in line at time since I wanted them to think the best of me!" Asta replied, happy that they found common ground about something.

"I completely understand." Rebecca said, knowing what it was like to be the one kept in line instead of the other way

As the two began to converse about their siblings, Noelle was watching from the side with a look of worry and a plate clenched in her hands.

"Wait! She's laughing now? How is this happening?!" she said as she broke the plate in half.

"Hey! I gave you this job because you said you needed the money, but so far, you've just been sending customers flying and breaking plates!" said the manager with black, slicked back hair wearing a white shirt and a black smock.

Noelle just turned to him and gave a blank face and said, "Quiet you."

Back at the table, Asta and Rebecca were still talking about their families and having a good time while doing so.

"No surprise you're a big sister. I can tell you're type." Asta said with a smile.

"Thanks and I have to admit, I don't see you as the oldest in your family." Rebecca replied.

"Actually, there's another one who the same age as he. His name is Yuno." Asta said until he and Rebecca saw a burly, drunk man walk to their table.

The man had shaggy brown hair, a mustache, and a beard while wearing a blue jacket, white shirt, red ascot tucked into the shirt, and black pants with boots.

"Well well well, Mr. Magic Knight appears to be having some fun, huh?" he said as he kneeled down to get a good look at Asta. "Wow. You're more of a runt than I thought and you're a Magic Knight? I outta try myself since it looks like they'll let anyone in."

"You say that but it's a bit harder than you think." Asta said as he gave a sheepish smile.

The drunk man then turned to Rebecca and said, "Wow. You must have a lot of nerve to go after a pretty thing like her. What would she want with a runt like you anyway?"

Rebecca growled at the man before he started to speak again.

"Hang on, I think I've seen you before." he said before his memory cam back to him. "Ah, now I remember. You work in that restaurant with a kid strapped to your back. Always working yourself to the bone with a bunch of brats watching ya." The drunk man then started to laugh and continue to talk down to Rebecca, "What's the matter? Did your boyfriend leave ya high and dry?"

Rebecca finally had it and replied, "No, they're not my kids! They're my siblings!"

"Really? No wonder you're trying to bag a knight. So you can take it easy." the drunks said as he reached for her shoulders. "Well, you're pretty and if you want a man that bad, I'll be of service to ya, sweety!"

"Hey, let go of me!" Rebecca shouted as the man kept laughing.

It was then the drunk man felt a hand grab his right arm and looked to see Asta glaring at him with slit eyes that would've scared him if he wasn't drunk.

"I don't know who you think you are or what you think you're doing but you better get off of her if you know what's good for you." Asta said as Rebecca blushed at bit at while looking at him. "You don't know anything about about her and you've got no right to grab her."

"Oh, scary! What sort of spell are you gonna use on me, Mr. Knight?" the drunk said as he wasn't afraid.

"Sorry but I'm not gonna waste my magic on innocent drunk." the dragon slayer replied.

"Eh? A Magic Knight that won't use his magic? Is this a joke or something?" the drunk said before laughing.

"Maybe but how's this for a punchline?" Asta asked before he pulled the man off of Rebecca.

The drunk man was surprised as Asta reeled his fist back and struke the drunk in the face, launching him towards another and destroying table where the pathetic Praying Mantis Knight, Sekke was sitting with two weird looking guys across from 3 women. As the women got up and left after the men trapped under the drunk, the bar manager from before came towards Asta and Rebecca's table with a look of shock.

"You-you destroyed my table!" he said with sadness in his voice.

Rebecca gasped and took Asta's hand before running out of the place. "Let's get out of here!"

"Hey, wait!" said the manager before a waitress uniform hit him in the face.

"I just remembered there's something I have to do!" Noelle said as she ran out of the tavern after them.

She looked around for them until she saw a nearby ally and looking into it, seeing a normal Asta and a resting Rebecca.

"You were great back there. Thanks for dealing with him." Rebecca said with a smile.

"No worries but I'm sorry if I ruined the mixer for you." Asta said as he scratched his head again.

"Don't worry, you didn't." Rebecca said as she look at Asta and thought, 'He a bit short but I can feel something different about him. Something special.'

Asta caught her gaze as she looked away and blushed a bit.

"Um, Asta? Do you have anyone who's special to you?" She asked.

"Oh yeah she's-" Asta said as he thought of Sister Lily before his thoughts switched to Noelle. "She's someone I met a while back."

"Oh, that's great. She must be an amazing woman." Rebecca said with a bit of disappointment in her eyes. "I'll be rooting for you two."

"Thanks, Rebecca." Asta said with a smile.

As two started a new topic about Asta visiting Rebecca's siblings, Noelle pulled her head back and thought, 'Who was he talking about? Does he mean... me?!' Noelle as she placed her hands on her face. 'We did meet a while ago and we have been getting closer on missions.' she then gained a goofy smile and shook her head back and forth. 'But oo, he couldn't be talking about me! Maybe Charmy or Vanesse but little old me? That's ridiculous!'

As Noelle thought about this, Asta was looking towards the sky and wondering something.

'I was thinking about Sister Lily at first but then I thought about Noelle.' He thought as a picture of Noelle smiling at him appeared where he was staring. 'Could it be that I've moved on from Sister Lily?'

Over to the side, Rebecca was gazing at Asta with a smile. 'I may be rooting for them but I won't give up on him.'

"Oh, hey! I almost forgot, how do you think our friends are doing?" Asta asked as he turned back to Rebecca.

Meanwhile back at outside the Dreavy Hinker, Erika and Helene were walking away from Finral and Luck as the former had tears running done his face.

"Rejected once again." he said as he lowered his head and Luck chuckled.

* * *

 **Sorry for the delay, personal stuff.**


	28. Training, Memories, and Feelings

**bulk Locke the the grim head: Thank you.**

 **BanRedfox: Yeah, I figured it was for the best and I'm sure Finral will find someone.**

It was calm and clear day in the Clover Kingdom as the sun rose gently over the horizon holding the Black Bull Headquarters. In the forest outside of the unique place, Asta was currently doing his morning workouts that would make most people die from the intensity while being shirtless. He was currently doing sit up with his legs held up on a tree branch with Nero watching from a separate tree band.

"2,996, 2,997, 2998, 2999, 3,000!" Asta shouted as he just completed his current experience.

He then jumped from the tree and landed on the ground before falling to the ground in push up position.

"Now, 2,000 push ups!" he said as he did the exercise in a speedy motion.

After his push ups were done in a matter of minutes, Asta shot up to his feet and staring a mad dash through the forest with Nero flying behind him and barely keeping up.

'I'll get stronger and faster until I can't go any further!' he thought as a boulder came into his field of vision.

Asta then extend both his hands to the side and summoned his magic to them.

 **"Iron Dragon Lance!"** he exclaimed as both his arms turned into iron poles.

Asta then spun in a circular motion and knocked the boulder in the air with his right arm/pole before jumping and slamming his left arm/pole into the boulder, sending it to the ground and into a thousand piece. He landed on his feet and gazed up to the sky.

"I'm gonna train as hard as I can and become stronger than anyone, especially you, Yuno!" he said as his arms turned back to normal.

As he continued to train and practice with his Iron Dragon Slayer Magic, he couldn't help but feel nostalgic and remember how he went from a magicless child to a master of lost dragon magic. It was crazy if you thought about it but crazy was just fine with Asta if it meant he could claim his dream of becoming the Wizard King. He stopped for a moment to take a break and refuel by drinking some magic boosting juice and eating some iron nails.

"I can't believe it's been so long since I've got my magic." he said as he chewed some nails before downing some bitter boosting juice. "Looking back, it all seems like a dream but that doesn't matter anymore. I'm hear now and that's all that what counts!"

Asta then got back on his feet and and gained a determined look before going back to his training for the rest of the day. When sunset came, he started to make his way back to the, while thinking more about his journey here and all the memories he made along the way until a certain memory from the night of the mixer and when he talked to Rebecca about a special girl in his life made him think real hard.

'Noelle.' He thought as the sky turned blue and the stars came out as he entered the Black Bulls headquarters. 'Have I really gained feelings for her? Has she become the one I want to marry instead of Sister Lily?'

Asta's thought soon came to a halt as he entered the main room, where he saw Noelle sitting at a bar counter with Nero, who must've flown back to the base without him noticing, and an empty glass in front of her. He took a whiff of the air and could smell wine coming from the glass, signalling Noelle had a glass while talking to Nero. Asta was about to leave and go clean himself from his all day training until he heard Noelle speak up.

"So, he want to Wizard King, huh? How can you be the Wizard King when you always act like a lunatic, Asta?!" she said as Asta turned back towards her direction. "Even if you always come out okay, you always get hurt and worry me. Not that I care, I mean me and him? Yeah right. Although, he did say he has someone special to him but if he does, then he would stop making me worry about him."

Noelle started to nub the base of the wine glass and gaze towards the side as Asta started walking towards her.

"Hey, Noelle?" he said, shocking the girl and causing her to turned around with a blush on her face.

"Asta?! Ho-how long have you been standing there?!" she exclaimed as she shot up from her seat.

"Just a bit but I think it was enough." Asta said as he stopped in front of Noelle. "Did I do something wrong? You were talking about me and how I was worrying you."

This caused Noelle to panic as she realized she indirectly said that she had a crush on Asta and was worrying about him. She started to blush from not only this realization but also the sight of a shirtless Asta and the massive amount of muscle her possessed. In a state of panic and embarrassment, Noelle pulled out her wand and pointed it at Asta, causing the dragon slayer to react on instinct and summon his **Iron Dragon Scales.** It was then that Noelle fired a water magic blast at Asta, who was sent back and crashed into the wall. After realizing what she just did, Noelle quickly ran out of the room and to her's in embarrassment.

"Uh, man. What was that about?" Asta said as he got up and rubbed his head.

As he was recovering from the sudden attack, Asta recalled what she said when she was talking to Nero.

 _"I mean me and him? Yeah right."_

It was then, as Asta lowered his scales, he blushed a bit as he started to put it together with what happened the night of the mixer.

"Does she...feel the same way about me?!" Asta shouted in shock as he gazed towards Nero, who turned away and avoided his stare.

* * *

 **This is placed in Episode 29, which was the flashback episode. Since it was mostly flashback, I decided to put sort of my own spin on it. Sorry if it was too short.**


	29. Mirror Madness, Trouble in Nean!

**bulk Locke the the grim head: Thank you but I don't think the Clover Kingdom has anything like the Grand Magic games.**

 **BanRedfox: Thanks, I figured it would be good to add that even if it was short.**

It was a bright and shining morning as all the members of the Black Bulls were gathered in the main lobby of their headquarters with their captain, Yami, standing before with the usual cigarette in his hand. They were on their knees in the order of Noelle, Asta, Gauche, Charmy, Vanessa, Luck, Magna, Gordon, and Final from left to right as they paid close attention to their calm yet easily angered captain.

"Okay, everyone listen and listen good. It's that time again, the time when our wages come in and you guys get the day off." he said calmly.

As usual this cause a round of cheers all around as they loved this day, not only for the pay but the free time to do whatever they chose.

"Alright, extra time to train." Asta said as he quickly got into a push up position and started going as fast as he could.

"Thank you, Yami Sir! A great call as always!" Magna said as he raised his arms in the air.

"I say we celebrate with some drinks!" Vanessa said as she went to the couch and poured herself a glass of wine, most likely the first of many.

"This also calls for a feast! Second breakfast to be exact!" Charmy said as she placed herself at a small round table.

The table currently had a small platter of cupcakes with various topping, a pot of tea, and a cup full of said tea as the food loving girl start eating two cupcakes, alternating between the two.

"It's time to get busy!" Finral said as he stood up. "Ladies, here comes your dream guy, Finral!" he pointed to himself and gave a smile.

"Chhuuuuu." said Grey as he just let out the usual puff of smoke from his mouth.

"By the way, Gauche. Good job, dealing with all those bandits yesterday." Yami said as the mentioned man had a nose bleed from looking at a picture of his sister.

"Thank you but could I make a request?" Gauche said as he turned to Yami. "Today's my little sister, Marie's, birthday. Can I extend my time off to her next birthday?"

"Hell. No." Yami said as he meet to creepy older brother's gaze.

"We've got free time?" Luck said as he threw some air punches. "I hope somebody attacks the capital again, I could use a good fight! OH! I just got an idea, I'll attack the capital!"

"That's an even bigger hell no!" Yami said as he slightly smiled at the boy lust for battle, it made him a valuable ally if there was a war raging.

As this was going on, Gordon was doing his usual talking in a mumble while polishing a gold coin. "This is great and all but money can't buy the true happiness of friendship."

"100 percent agreed, Gordon! There's nothing like good friends to make your day better!" Asta said, since his enhanced hearing allowing him to hear his fellow, mumbling bull, from his push up spot.

"You got that right, Asta." Gordon mumbled in reply as he smiled, happy that Asta could hear him even if he mumbled.

As everyone did their various things, Noelle seemed to try and be the voice of reason.

"Does no one feel like working?" she asked even if she already knew the answer.

It was then Charmy opened her grimoire and cost her arms before saying, **"Cotton Creation Magic. Sheep Cooks, Ho!"** she finished as she raised her left fist in the air.

In a matter of seconds, 3 fluffy sheep with cook hats appear from small cotton balls and worked at a fast pace to make their master more food. After about 5 seconds, they had created a smorgasbord of potato related dishes but these weren't just any potato related dishes as Asta caught of whiff of them and recognized that smell.

"Oh yeah!" Charmy cheered with her arms in the air.

"Wait a second." he said as he stopped his push up and turns his head to Charmy. "Are those?"

He immediately got up from the floor and went to the table to confirm his theory.

"They are! They're pot-potatoes!" Asta said with joy in his voice.

"Yes, they are!" Charmy said with her mouth full. "They're a specialty from a place called Hage Village, the same place where my prince is from. Go ahead, have some!"

"You bet I will! I haven't had these since I left to join the Magic Knights!" Asta said before he went to a plate of pot-potato croquettes and started eating them. "It's been so long! They taste like home!" he finished with tears of joy running down his face.

Curious as to the hoopla of the food, the others decided to try these pot-potatoes and see how they taste.

"They're very dense but that means their good for you, high in fiber." Yami said as he sampled a hash brown.

Meanwhile on the couch, Magna was holding a plate of pot-potato chips as Vanessa sat to his right and Luck sat on his left. They stared at dish for a moment before each trying a chips.

"Crumbly. So good." Luck said as he ate one.

"Not bad and it's amazing how they take all the moisture out of your mouth." Magna said after he ate one.

"Yeah, and these would be perfect for bar snacks. Really makes you thirsty for a drink." Vanessa said as she held her right check.

Grey was currently eating a salad with pot-potato sprinlkines as he let out the usual puff of smoke but you could hear a bit of satisfaction in his tone. Charmy was currently stuffing her face as usual with to kabobs in her hands.

"The love for my substance savior knows no bounds and it shall never be denided!" she said as Gauche walked past her and out of the headquarters, most likely to visit his sister.

Finral was about to follow but was soon stopped by Yami, who placed a hand on his shoulder and gave a dark look.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. You wanted me to take you into town for another match, right, captain?" Finral said as his smile wavered a bit.

"Uh huh but first," Yami started as his stomach started to gurgle and placed a hand on it. "All that fiber seems to be doing its work. I might be pushing past my limits right now." he finished speaking as he had an uneasy look on his face and sweat on his forehead.

"That is one limit no one want to you push past sir! So disgusting!" Finral said as he opened a portal and pushed Yami through to the bathroom.

As this was happening, Asta continued to eat the dishes made from the specialty of his home in Hage and tried not to think about Yami and his "limit."

-Timeskip, unknown. Location, outside of the Black Bull Headquarters-

It seemed to be mid day as Asta was outside with Magna as the man was polishing his broom, Crazy Cyclone. Unknown to them, Noelle was also outside and was overhearing their conversation. The reason why is because she had nothing to do on her day off, so she decided to see what they were talking about.

"Magna, Sir! I know you're busy but I was wondering if you could please take me somewhere on your amazing broom?" Asta said with respect as he stood like a soldier with Nero on his head.

Even if Asta was a Junior Knight 3rd Class and Manga was a Junior Knight 5th Class, he still respected Magna due to him being a Magic Knight longer than him.

"Well, when you ask all polite and respectful like that, how could I saw no, Rasta?" Magna said as he gazed at his friend. "So where to, man?

"The Village of Nean, sir!" Asta said with respect.

After the name of the place was said, Noelle began to ponder behind the wall she was eavesdropping from.

'Nean? Wait, that was where Asta went for that dumb mixer.' She thought as she continued to listen.

"No problem, but why exactly?" Magna asked.

"Well, it's something I promised someone." he said as he rubbed the back of his head.

'Promised someone? Wait, that girl he was with at the mixer. She said she wanted him to meet her siblings, could that be it?' Noelle thought as she placed a hand on her chin. 'Wait, why do I suddenly care?! I know he said it would be fun but why am I worrying about it?!"

As she pondered, Magna had gotten on his broom and said, "Well, get on."

"Huh, we're going now?" Asta said in surprise.

"Well, it's now or never. So, what's it gonna be?" Magna said with a bit of annoyance in his throat.

"Now's good!" Asta said before he climbed on Crazy Cyclone.

It was then Noelle heard the sound of the broom taking and pulled her from her thoughts as she look around the corner.

"Hell yes!" Magna said as he took over with Asta on Crazy Cyclone.

Noelle decided to come out from behind the wall and gaze at them as they took off. As they flew threw the sky, Asta had just finished explaining why he was heading to Nean in the first place.

"So you promise a chick you meet that the mixer you'd play with her little siblings?" Magna said.

"Yeah, I think it'll be good for them to have a new playmate!" Asta said with a smile as Nero stayed on his head.

"Wow, Asta. Already bringing her family on a date. Fast learner, I'm proud of ya!" Magna said with a proud smile.

"Thanks!" Asta replied.

Magna turned his head back towards the front as he saw the village of Nean was dead ahead.

"Nean is coming up fast, Asta!" he said, causing Asta to cheer a bit.

"Alright! I can't wait to meet Rebecca's siblings, it's gonna be great!" he said with his arms in the air.

"Take it easy there, man." Magna said as he flew Crazy Cyclone faster into Nean.

-Timeskip, a few hours later. Location, Nean Village-

It was the evening and the sun had gave the village of Nean a beautiful glow as the day was reaching it's end. Though this was normally a time of ease, the people of Nean were put in a state of creepiness as Gauche of the Black Bulls walked down the road, carrying 3 large bags full of toy and having an enormous nose bleed. The reason he was present in Nean and had bags of toys was due to his little sister, Marie, who lived in the village and it was her birthday.

'Salutation, my sweet sister, Marie. Please forgive me, for my blood lose has made me late.' Gauche thought as he had a creepy smile and blush on his face. 'I have bought you many birthday presents and I hope you enjoy every last one of them.'

He continued to talk through town as everyone around him kept starring at him in slight fear, worry, and disgust but, unfortunatly, it never got to him.

'All of my wages are gone but no price is too high to see you happy.' he thought as he continued to walk towards his destination. 'I can't wait to see you again, my sweet little angel. I can not wait to see you smiling face. My sweet little Marie.'

Gauche continued to think of his little sister until he rounded a corner and fell upon a horrendous sight in his eyes that caused him to freeze as if he were made of stone. Marie, his little sister and the light of his life, was smiling, laughing, and had a blush on her checks as Asta, his fellow Black Bull who was also smiling and laughing, was was swinging her around in circles as she hung onto his arm. Watching the display besides him was, Rebecca with her hair down, wearing a purple dress with an apron and a baby with light red hair strapped to her back, a young boy, and slightly older girl, a older boy, and a young girl that was close to Asta's height.

"You having fun, Marie?" Asta asked, having a little fun swinging Marie from his right arm.

"Yeah! It's so fun!" said Marie, who was wearing a pink dress in black flat shoes.

The sight was amusing and looked fun as the two kids around Rebecca's legs wanted to join in.

"I wanna go next!" said the small girl, who had Nero on her head, with short red hair wearing a white dress over a long sleeve purple shirt.

"Me too!" said the small boy, who also had short brown hair, wearing a beige shirt and black shorts.

"You got it! One ri-" Asta said until a boot came crashing into his face and sent him to the ground.

This caused everyone to gasp and stepped back as the culprit responsible was Gauche, who had his hands in his pocket as he was digging his heel into Asta's cheek. His little sister, Marie, was watching from his right with shock as he continued to do so.

"Get away from my sister, you scum." Gauche said.

This caused Asta to groan a bit as it went on for a few second until Marie shouted, "No, stop, big brother! I don't want you doing bad things to him, please! Asta is going to marry me someday!"

'Wait, what did she say?! And when did I agree to it?!' Asta thought as he heard this claim.

This caused Gauche to stop what he was doing and freeze, hearing his little sister's words repeat in his head over and over as his other functions ceased and he crumbled to the ground. Asta and Gauche weren't the only ones to be shocked by this as Noelle was around the corner in an ally with a shocked face and white eyes.

'Her husband? I came out of curiosity but I did not expect this!' she thought as someone was behind her, a broomstick driver who had flown her to Nean.

"Um, the fare, ma'am?" he said as he wore a blue suit and hat, holding a broomstick with a lantern at the front.

"Here. This should be enough." Noelle said as she uncaringly dumped a large amount of gold in his hands before turning her attention back to Asta.

'More than enough! Thanks!' he thought in shock and glee.

Back with a now standing Asta, Rebecca, Marie, and her siblings, Gauche had begun to get up after his crumble and began muttering something as well.

"Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill." he muttered as he got up.

"Um Gauche? Are you alright?" Asta said as his instincts sense an abnormal amount of danger coming from his fellow knight.

"Kill, kill." Gauche said as he raised his head, showing a teary right eye, bloody nostrils and a small, creepy smile. "I'll kill you."

This sent Asta, Rebecca, and her siblings into a state of fear as Asta scream a bit and Gauche opened his grimoire, which was coated in blue magic, with the wave of a hand.

 **"Mirror Magic! Reflect Ray!"** Gauche said as he gained a dangerously calm face with his hair giving shade over his right ear.

Soon, a mirror floated out of his grimoire and showed Asta his reflection before it fired a bright, light blue magic beam at him. Asta quickly dodged as he fell on one knee.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" he said in panic and a little anger.

"Now die, you scum." Gauche said as he fire another beam.

Asta acted quickly and crossed his arms while shouting **"Iron Dragon Club!"**

His magic went to work and transformed his arms into iron columns as more beams came towards Asta, causing a cloud of dirt to kick up as the blast hit his iron covered arms. As this was going on, Rebecca and her siblings ducked to the sides to avoid the blasts while Marie stayed beside her brother and watched as this happened.

"Please! Stop this, stop hurting him!" she exclaimed.

This only stopped when an old voice came into earshot.

"Oh my, what is with all this racket?" the voice said, causing everyone to turn and see who it was.

The person in question an elderly woman with short, light-colored hair wearing a nun outfit. She had a large, jagged scar running down over her left eye, extending from her forehead to her left cheek.

"Marie, it's time to head back to the church, it's getting late." she said with a kind smile.

"Sister Theresa." Marie said, a little surprised to see her.

Sister Theresa then laid her eyes upon Gauche and instantly lost her smile and said with distaste in her mouth.

"Oh, so you're the cause of the noise, Gauche. You're here again."

"That's right you, hag." he said with equal distaste.

"That's "sister" to you, boy. Remember your manners." S. Theresa replied.

Asta, after turning his arms back to normal, and the other simply watched the exchange as the magic glow around Gauche's grimoire ceased and he closed it.

"My sister and I are spending the evening together, so you can go back to the church on your own." he replied as he glared at Sister Theresa.

"No, she coming with me to the church, Gauche. And the sooner you accept this, the better for you and everyone else." S. Theresa said as he face morphed into a calm state. "You need to realize that being around someone like you is not wise for an impressionable child such as Marie."

This comment caused a growl to come out of Gauche's throat as his glare intensified towards Sister Theresa.

"It's better for her to be in the company of someone better, someone without a bad attitude and smart mouth like yourself." she said without a hint of remorse or doubt..

"Excuse me, you old crone?" Gauche said as her words fell to deaf ears.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about." S. Theresa said as he just proved her point.

"Go die in a ditch." he said as he walked forward.

Sister Theresa soon followed his lead as she returned his nasty comment.

"Such a nice thing to say to an elder who's nearing the end of her life, you thoughtless oaf." she said.

"This coming from a demon which who will live for another hundred or three hundred years." Gauche replied.

"That sort of insult is only something a thug would resort too." S. Theresa said as she came to a halt in front of Gauche.

"Quite, you useless old bag!" Gauche shouted as he got in her face.

Asta, after letting this escalate enough, decided to jump in front of the two and try to stop it.

"Okay, that's far enough! You have no right to talk to an elderly woman of the church like this. It's not right!" he said as he held his arms out with Nero on his head.

"Stay out of this! No one asked you to help!" Gauche yelled.

"Just go home, Gauche." S. Theresa said before turning her attention to Marie and sounding cheerier. "Now, come along, Marie, it's getting late."

"Okay, sister." Marie answered as she took the nun's hand and walked away before turning back to everyone and waving. "Bye, big brother! Bye Asta! I had a lot of fun!"

While the little girl and nun walked away, Gauche fell to his knees and watched her leave with heavy heart.

"No, Marie. Come back!" he said before he fell to the ground.

Though Gauche was feeling down for her to go, Asta, Rebecca, and her siblings had happy faces as they waved by to the young girl.

"Bye, Marie!" Asta said as the other kids gave their good byes as well.

After the farewell had been complete, everyone turned their attention to Gauche, who seemed to be as lifeless as a statue.

"Uh, dude are you gonna be okay?" Asta asked as Gauche didn't more an inch.

"Marie..." he said in a deathly whisper.

"Wow, this guys is weird." said the boy with a beige shirt and black shorts as he poked Gauche with a stick.

"Yeah, I know." Asta said as he stared at the scene.

"Well, now that that's over, are you hungry?" Rebecca said. "We could grab some food at the restaurant I work at while your friend recovers. And maybe you could stay the night with us?" she finished with a blush on her checks.

"Really? That's so nice of you!" Asta said as he smiled at her.

"Yeah, that's a great idea!" the boy said.

"Yay! Yay!" shouted the little girl as she celebrated.

As the young kids celebrated the idea, Noelle watched from her ally and grew shocked as she gripped the wall so hard, it cracked. This was something Asta caught with his advanced hearing and turned to the ally, where he saw no one but he had a feeling someone was there.

'Spend the night?! How did it turn from a play date to spending the night?!' Noelle thought as she had her back against the wall of the ally. 'This is just madness all around!'

-Timeskip, midnight-

After a wonderful meal, Asta and Nero were having a pleasant night's sleep but unknown to them, their slumber was about to end as Gauche had appeared in the room with a deranged look in his eye. It was clear the he was still insanely, upset about Asta getting all friendly with his sister and he wasn't going to have ANY of it.

"Now, it's time to die." he said as he opened his grimoire. **"Mirror Magic. Reflect Ray."**

As the mirror rose from his grimoire and began to charge to fire, Asta's instincts roared him awake and he turned his head as the magic beam grazed his nose.

"WAHHH! What the heck, man?!" he shouted as he shout up from the bed.

"Prepare to die, Asta." Gauche said as he didn't take his eyes off the boy.

"Hey, wait a second! Why are you doing this?!" he asked, curious to this new brand of crazy.

"Simple, I refuse to let you marry Marie and I am taking the necessary steps to insure it." Gauche replied as his mirror spell charged up.

With his instincts and fear guiding his body, Asta done his shoes and bull robe as he summoned his **Iron Dragon Scales** and stood away from the bed.

"Take it easy, it's just something that a kid says!" Asta said as he punched through a beam before punching through another. "And only a low life would attack someone in their sleep!"

Gauche didn't seem to listen as he continued to fire beams at Asta, who counted with as many punches and kicks as he can give.

"Your insults mean nothing to me, since you'll soon be a dead man." he said before he cast another spell. **"Mirror Magic. My Real Double."**

The magic mirror in front of Gauche gave a bright glow and covered to room until it died down and reveal that there were two Gauches with a mirror floating in front of both of them. The only different is that the second Gauche is is reversed, meaning his left eye is showing instead of his right eye.

Asta gave a gasp as he thought, 'There's two of them now? And they each have a beam blasting mirror? What kind of magic is this?'

"You have deemed guilty of a heinous crime." said the original Gauche.

"The crime of meeting my little angel, Marie." both Gauches said unison.

"But that doesn't make sense! A lot of people have probably meet your sister!" Asta said as he punched and blocked several magic beams.

"Be quite and just die, scum." both Gauches said as they continued to fire.

The beams soon become too much as Asta was blasted through the wall and landed on his back outside, where it was snowing for some reason.

"Uh, what did I do to deserve this?" Asta said before he noticed the snow all around the village." Snow? But it's not even winter yet. What's going on?"

"Forget about the snow and die already!" Gauche said, drawing Asta's attention before firing another beam, which Asta blocked.

No later, than a second later, Rebecca came out wearing a nightgown and a blanket over her shoulders, screaming, "Hey, what do you think you doing? Stop it!" before walking down a set of stairs.

"Oh, sorry things just go-" Asta started until he was cut off.

"Never mind, that, I need your help." she said with worry. "It's my brother and sisters, they're missing!"

"What? Missing?" said a shocked Asta as he heard around the village.

It would appear that Rebeeca's little siblings weren't the only ones missing as it appears all the children in town were missing and their parent were outside searching for them.


	30. Hold on Children, Help is on the Way

**bulk Locke the the grim head: I know and thanks, I do my best.**

 **Devilslayer: Yes, I do and I'll kept that in mind when I look it up.**

 **TF Volt: Thank you and I will be sure to keep up the good work.**

The feeling a dread was thick in the air as the snow continued to fall and the village of Nean continued to worry about their missing children.

"Where could they have gone and why would they run off like this?" Rebecca said in worry as she looked around the village.

Asta looked around the village and saw that the other people of the village were outside and looking for their children, worrying and praying they were alright.

"Well, they're not playing some game, so something must've happened." Asta said as he turned back to Rebecca.

"Die, you scum." Gauche said as his mirror clone disappeared and he fired another magic mirror beam.

Asta simply back handed the attack and glared at the man, who jumped down from the hole had created to the ground.

"My sister, Marie, will never marry scum such as you." he said, unaware of the situation.

"Listen, Gauche! There's something more important going on right!" Asta said as he tried to convince the mirror man to stop.

"There is nothing more important than Marie, in this or any other world." Gauche replied as he fired more mirror beams.

Asta raised his arms to block more beams with his iron scales until a voice drew his, Gauche's, and Rebecca's attention.

"Can someone please explain what's wrong with this place?" Noelle said as she held her arms. "Snow at this time of year? This is ridiculous."

"Noelle?" Asta said as he walk towards her and lowered his scales. " What are you doing here?"

"Oh, nothing. Just passing through, sight seeing, those sort of things." she replied as she look away, not wanting him to find out the real reason she's here.

"Asta, who is this? Is she a friend?" Rebecca asked as she clung to the blanket on her shoulders for warmth.

"Yeah, she's-" Asta started until he remembered the night on the mixer and his thoughts on his relationship with Noelle. "Yeah, she's from the Black Bulls like me, this is Noelle. And Noelle, this is my friend, Rebecca."

At that moment, both woman gazed at each other and thought the exact same thing.

'His friend?' they thought, silently wondering if the other meant something more to Asta than she did.

"Hm." they both let out.

"Um, is something wrong?" Asta said, feeling the tension in the air between them.

"Oh, its nothing, Asta." Noelle said as she still tried to keep warm. "But listen, a while ago, I saw a lot of kids heading towards the mountains. Is some kind of festival being held there?"

This news shocked Asta and Rebecca as the later decided to speak up.

"The kids?! You saw them?" she said, feeling a bit hope now that she knew where all the children, including her siblings, went.

"I have a festival as well to attend, a festival of blood." Gauche said as he appeared behind Asta with a magic mirror ready.

This caused Asta to let out a small yelp a fear and surprise.

"That's enough out of you." said a familiar voice, causing the everyone to turn to her.

"Hag." Gauche said in distaste.

"Granny Theresa." Asta said in surprise.

The person who told Gauche to stop was none other than Sister Theresa of Nean church as she and another nun walked towards them. Sister Theresa held her hand out and let a bit of snow fall into her hand as she examined it.

"This snow, it's not normal. I can sense mana in it." she said as she frowned. "A spell is lanced in the snow, a spell to control others but this one is only working on children. Children who haven't developed their own mana yet."

This caused the group to gasp as the nun continued he examination.

"Several children that have been staying in the church have gone missing as well. Who would do this and why would they want the children?" S. Theresa said as worry came into her voice.

"Wait You said children in the Church were gone, too." Gauche said as he turned to Theresa and a certain and obvious thought came to mind. "My little sister, Marie, better not have been one of them."

"I'm sorry, but it appears she was." S. Theresa said, confirming Gauche's fear.

The mirror mage gained a look of rage as he charged at the elderly nun.

"You damn hag!" he said as he grabbed her by the the collar of her outfit and lifted her in the air. "You worthless relic, how could you let my sister be taken?!"

"Stop, please!" the fellow nun shouted as she worried for Sister Theresa.

"You never change, always using violence when something doesn't got your way. You may strike me all you want but it won't change what has happened. And it won't help Marie." S. Theresa said as she felt no fear in the man's rage.

Gauche lost his rage as he let out a short gasp before gazing towards the ground. "No, it won't help Marie but it will make me feel better!" he said as he reeled his fist back to punch Sister Theresa.

Gauche let his punch fly towards the nun until it was caught by Asta, who rushed in between Gauche and Sister Theresa to stop the man's useless fit.

"Asta!" Rebecca said before turning to Gauche. "Are you crazy? Why are you doing this?"

Gauche pulled his fist back and glared at the dragon magic using Black Bull.

"Asta, do you wanna die?" he said as his hair cast an erie shadow over his eye.

Asta didn't seem to acknowledge the threat as he tried to calm his fellow squad member down from his slightly deserved anger.

"Look, this is getting us nowhere. So how about we calm down and cool off?" he said, trying to stop anymore unnecessary violence.

Gauche was about to reply to Asta's claim until the young mage suddenly struck Gauche on the top of his head and forced him into the snow, face first.

"Remember, we're Magic Knight and in a situation like this, we need to stay calm, alright?" Asta said as he felt Fuegoleon's wise words repeat in his head.

"Excellent words. I like you, boy." S. Theresa said as she and her fellow nun watched Asta's actions.

Gauche rose from the snow and gave his reply to Asta's advice.

"Stay calm, huh? Okay, I can do that." he said as his hair blocked his eyes.

"Okay, that's good to hear." Asta said as he smiled at his friend.

"I'll be calm while I kill you." Gauche said as he showed Asta his slightly blood covered face.

"Are still going on about this?!" Asta said before Gauche quickly wiped the blood off his face and kicked Asta to the ground.

Gauche then tried to stomp on his stomach until Asta grabbed his foot and pushed back but found some difficulty in doing so, either the mirror mage was stronger than he appeared or the situation with his sister being kidnapped help him tap into new strength he didn't know he possess and didn't think about it.

"Struggle all you want, I'm still gonna make this hurt!" Gauche said as he put more force into his foot.

"This is a waste of time! You need to stop this so we can look for clues!" Asta said as he still held the foot back.

"Do you really think it's going to be that easy?" Gauche quipped until something came to mind, and caused him to stop his attempt to hurt Asta. "Wait, I remember giving Marie a magic mirror so we can talk and told her to keep it close. The snow may make it hard to communicate but if we can track down through its mana, we could find her!" he finished as he took his foot off of Asta.

The dragon slayer could see new hope in Gauche's eye as he sat up and gave a smile.

"See? I told you. You just had to calm down." Asta said before Gauche gave a surprise stomp to his stomach, forcing him back to his back.

"Fine, you were right but don't think I won't end you after all this is over!" he said through clenched teeth as he repeatedly stomped Asta's stomach.

"I'm coming, too. The children of the church are my responsibility." S. Theresa said, drawing everyone attention.

"Thanks sister but I think you should leave this to us." Asta said as he pushed Gauche's foot of him and got up on his knees.

"No, the hag may be annoying but she can be useful." Gauche said, actually agreeing with the nun he hates.

"Really? But it's just she...kinda old." Asta commented as he tried to get the nun to stay.

Sister Theresa chuckled as bit as she smirk at the knights.

"Just because I'm old doesn't mean I can't show you youngsters a think or two." she countered.

Asta would've found another reason for her to stay if his attention wasn't turned to the sound of snow crunching behind him, he turned to the source and saw Rebecca on her knees with tears in her eyes. This also gained Noelle's attention as she turned to the crying red head.

"Asta, between my brother, Marco's, immature antics and my sister, Luca's, stubborn nature, I'm so worried about them. What am I gonna do? If anything-" Rebecca's words and concern halted in her when she felt a slight tap on her head.

The worried older sister looked up and saw Asta was pulling his fist back to his side and giving her a soft yet determined smile.

"Don't worry, I'll bring them back. I'll bring all of the children that were taken back, I promise." he said in a gentle tone to ease her worries.

Rebecca let out a small gasp as she held her hand over the spot were Asta tapped her head, continuing to stare at him.

"So no more moping, alright? I know for certain they wouldn't want that." he said as he pumped his right fist.

Rebecca's worries seemed to fade away as she smile and Noelle smiled at him.

"You're right they would want me to be strong." she said as she dried her tears.

The soft moment was soon interrupted as a broomstick suddenly hit the side of his head and caught him by his robe as it floated into the air.

"We're leaving, let's go." Gauche said as he was the one who hit Asta and snagged his robe as he and Sister Theresa were on their brooms.

"Hey!" Noelle said as she ran to them. "You're just going to leave me here? I want to help!"

"You can't fly a broom either. Do you want to dangle like him?" the mirror mage replied with an uncaring tone as he stood on his broom.

Noelle glared at Gauche for his comment, basically saying she was useless, until Sister Theresa spoke up.

"There's still a chance the ones who took the children will return for the ones with mana. Please, stay here and protect the village while we're gone." she explained, trying to make up for Gauche's rudeness.

"Also, try and contact the Magic Knight and tell them what's happened!" Asta said before he, Gauche and Sister Theresa fly off the save the kidnapped children.

"Good luck, Asta!" Rebecca shouted as she and Noelle saw them fly away.

-Timeskip, 10 minutes. Location, Outskirts of Nean-

The snow continued to fall as Gauche, with Asta still hanging at the front of his broom, and Sister Theresa flew towards the location of Marie and the mirror Gauche gave her.

"She's close, I can feel her magic power getting stronger." Gauche said as he kept his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, I can feel it too!" Asta said as he looked around the snowy horizon.

Sister Theresa flew close behind Gauche and said, "Remain cautious, whoever did this must have a large amount of magic power."

This seemed to worry Gauche more as he fly a bit faster than before.

"Please, hold on, Marie." he said as Asta thought something similar.

'Hang on, kids. We're coming to save you.'

They continued to fly threw the air for what felt like hours until they came upon a set of jagged caves entrances on the side of a hill.

"I'm picking up mana coming from those caves." Gauche said as he eyed the caves.

"Yeah and I can feel a lot of it coming from inside, it must be the kids!" Asta said as he gained a smile, their mission was halfway complete in getting the kids back.

"That must be the place, the cave would be perfect to hide all the children due to it's size!" S. Theresa said as she explained the cleverness of the enemy.

As they continued to fly to the caves a sudden sight made Asta lose his smile an gain a face of shock, the sight was of a familiar boy with a beige shirt and black shorts lying in the snow.

"Marco! Gauche, I need you to set me down for a sec!" he said as he wanted to check on his little friend.

"Just leave him. Marie's the only one that matters right now." Gauche said, not caring what happens to Marco. "If you want to get off my broom, then get off."

Asta let out a quick gasp before growling at Gauche and swing himself off the broom and falling to Marco, he braced himself as he hit the ground and rolled a bit before planting himself in a sitting position and using his feet to completely stop.

"Asta!" S. Theresa shouted before she turned to Gauche. "You call yourself a Magic Knight?! What happened to standard?"

Sister Theresa flew down to check on the young dragon slayer while Gauche continued to fly into the the caves.

"I don't care what happens to others as long as I can protect my sister. Just like Yami said when I joined the Black Bulls." Gauche said as he recalled what Yami said to him on the full moon night.

 _"Protect whatever you think needs protecting. It's not like I'm gonna stop you."_

Gauche gained a small smile as he continued to fly into the caves.

"I will, no matter what." he said.

Meanwhile back outside the caves, Asta and Sister Theresa were busy checking on Marco, whose eyes were dull and lifeless.

"Marco, an you hear me?" Asta said as he and Sister Theresa knelled close to him.

"Poor thing, he's got scraps and frost bite all over him. Marco, can you hear us?" S. Theresa said as the young boy didn't react. "It's not use, he's in a trance and his mind is clouded in darkness."

"Darkness?" Asta said before an idea came to him. "If his mind is clouded, then I'm going remove the darkness."

Asta then stood focus his magic and silently went into **Iron Shadow Dragon Slayer Mode** before approaching Marco.

"Wait, what are you going to do?" S. Theresa said, a bit frighten by his new look and increase in magic power.

Asta knelled towards Marco and pointed a finger to him, letting his **Shadow Magic** move from his finger in the form of mist and went into Marco's left ear. Nothing happened for a few moments until a white mist like magic come out of Marco's eyes and Asta's own shadow mist returned to him. The light in the young boy's eyes returned as he wondered where he was.

"Huh? What's going on?" Marco said as he caught the sight of Sister Theresa and Asta. "Sister? Asta, is that you?"

Sister Theresa released a breath of relief as Asta still looked at Marco with a small frown.

"Hey, Marco. Are you feeling alright?" he asked as he returned to normal and inspected the boy for any other injuries.

While Asta gazed upon Marco, Sister Theresa turned her eyes to Asta and his strange magic power.

'This boy, did he drive the darkness that controlled Marco out with his own darkness?' she thought until a sudden shout from Marco made her and Asta, who jumped to his feet, worry.

"It hurts, it hurts!" he said as he clenched his fingers in the air.

Sister Theresa acted quick and brought out her grimoire to help the young boy.

"Hold on, young one. **Flame Healing Magic. Sacrad Healing Light.** " she said as several candles made of her magic appeared in the air around them.

Each one gave off a single flame and a radiate glow as they bot was consumed by the glow.

"Thank you, I feel much better now." Marco said as steam began to rise from him, signalling the frost bite was evaporating.

"Wow, you have healing magic? That's great!" Asta said as he watched the light heal Marco.

"Tell us, child. Do you know what happened?" S. Theresa asked.

"I'm sorry, I don't know." Marco said as he frowned.

'The one who ruffed him up must've been responsible for taking all the kids.' Asta thought as he saw Marco's injuries heal until he spoke up, "Marco."

Macro turned his head to Asta as he continued to speak.

"We're going to rescue your sister and the other kids but we can't take you with us. So, can you please wait in that cave while we go?" he asked nicely.

"What? No! Please, let me go with you! It's scary there!" Marco asked as he looked as if he was about to cry.

"Come on, no tears. You're a man now, aren't ya?" Asta asked as took off his Black Bulls robe. "Here, you can wear my Magic Knight robe until we get back. Okay?"

Asta placed his robe over the the young boy, who stared at Asta with curiosity and wonder in his eyes.

"Wear this and you'll not only forget the cold but you'll feel a lot braver, since it's full of the courage a Magic Knight uses everyday." he continued, giving the young boy a thumbs up.

Marco gave Asta a brave smile and a nod while saying, "Okay, I will."

"Alright, I'll also need one more thing from you." Asta said as he got on his feet. "Keep that robe safe for me, I'm trusting you with it until we get back, okay?"

"Got it, Asta." Marco said with a nod.

Sister Theresa, after watching the whole interaction between them, decided to get up and off the ground as well.

"We need to go, I'm worried about the other children." she said as she and Asta faced a cave entrance.

-Timeskip, 20 minutes. Location, inside the caves-

After entering the caves and using trying their best to find the children and Gauche, Asta and Sister Theresa finally found the man but saw that he was in trouble as he was surrounded golems of snow and his sister, Marie, was being held captive by two people in jumpsuits. One of the guys had pale skin, white hair, silver eyes and wearing a snow white bodysuit and the other was a large man with tan skin, strange glasses, black hair, and wearing purple body suit. The purple wearing man had Marie in a choke hold as Gauche didn't move his broom an inch, worrying what the man might do to his sister. The sight made Asta angry as he gave a roar as he and Sister Theresa, who was flying on her broomstick, came rushing into the cave! This alerted the two villains and Gauche as Asta held his arms crossed in front of his chest.

 **"Iron Dragon Kunai! Metal Storm!"** Asta screamed as he creating 10 iron kunai between his fingers.

He threw all ten and saw then tear through the as many snow golems as they could before one shot towards the large man holding Marie hostage, cutting his cheek and forcing him to let her go.

"Damn!" he said as he back up to his snow white ally.

Marie then ran towards Asta, Gauche, and Sister Theresa as Gauche started to see the world move in slow motion as she ran to what appeared to be him. The man got his usual nose bleed as he held out his arms in waiting for his sister.

"Everything's alright now." he said as his sister continued to run to him.

But to his horror, Marie ran to and hugged Asta instead of him. This made him freeze like a statue once again.

"Asta! I'm so glad you're hear!" she said with joy.

"It's okay, you're safe now." he said as he didn't return the hug.

"Uh." Gauche let out before he turned to Asta and shot a mirror beam, forcing him to separate from Marie.

"AHH!" Asta yelled at the sudden attack.

"Asta, no!" Marie said after he pushed her out of the way of the beam.

Gauche marched towards Asta and grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

"Idiot, what were you thinking throwing all those projectiles? You could've hit Marie!" he exclaimed in a fit, not seeing his own blast as a problem.

"Calm down, I had to do it in order to save her!" Asta replied with equal tone. "Besides, you could've been hit too! More than her in fact!"

Gauche then gained a frighting look on his face as he glared at Asta.

"You could never hit me." he said in a low voice, scaring Asta a bit.

Following his instincts, saying to get away from the crazed man now, Asta jumped back a bit but soon found himself surrounded by several magic mirrors Gauche created from his grimoire, which was floating in front of him as he had his hands on his hips.

"My love makes me invincible." he said as Asta started to sweat at the sight of all his mirrors.

"That's enough, big brother!" Marie said as she stood in front of Asta with her arms out.

"Move, Marie. Now." Gauche said, not wanting to fire at his little sister.

"No." she said, being stubborn.

As the two Magic Knights and little girl had their little argument, Sister Theresa was knelled next to a group of children laying on the ground with one in her arms. She was using her magic to heal them as best as she could but soon found a shocking realization.

"These children, all of their magic is gone." she said as Asta, Gauche, and Marie turned to her. "It's been taken and I'm not sure if they can get it back."

"Their magic, that's why they took them?" Asta said, feeling sorrow for the kids.

"He said something about money, the scary man over there." Marie said as she held her hands in fear.

The reality of the situation set in as Asta clenched his fist in anger, knowing what a life without magic is like as he lived it before he got his **Iron Dragon Slayer Magic.** He turned his head to the kidnappers, showing them his slit like eyes, and glared at them with a fierce fire.

"You monster! How could you be so heartless?!" he said as he grinded his teeth.

The look in Asta's eyes caused the big man, Baro, to take a few steps back.

'This isn't good. I don't like the way he's glaring at us!' he thought in fear.

"What do we do now?" asked the white haired man, Neige.

Baro didn't answer Neige, his little brother, as he continued to think about how bad the situation was.

'The tall, mirror one was enough trouble, but with his friends here, we're in deeper trouble.' he thought as he lifted his hand to his glasses, which had a special looking left lens.

The lens on Baro's glasses was able to detect the magic power with people and tell if the power was high or low. When he used it on Asta, Baro quaked in fear even more when he saw that Asta had an enormous amount of power and for some reason, it took the form of a dragon surrounding him.

"His magic power, it's like nothing I've ever seen!" he scream in worry before he put on a tough facade. "But you're power is nothing compared to me. Your magic may be unique and strong but it's nothing I haven't seen before! And you're not even wearing a knight robe, so you're just a little kid!"

Asta continued to glared at the man as Baro stepped from behind his little brother.

"Neige, you take care the little brat's brother!" He said as he gained a smirk.

"What?!" he shouted in worry.

"You heard me, and I'll deal with this little runt!" Baro said, trying to seem tough even if he feared Asta's power.

The Iron Dragon Slayer had listen to the large man enough as he dashed at Baro, surprising the large man with his speed. Asta released his magic and summoned power to his right hand.

 **"Iron Dragon Hard Fist!"** he shouted as he struck Baro in the stomach.

The blow made Baro spit up bile and a little blood as he flew back into the cave wall, causing a bit of it to fall on him. The sudden strike caused Neige, Sister Theresa, and Marie to gasp in surprise as the dust cleared and showed Baro with a bit of blood leaking from his mouth.

"I'm refuse to let you get away with this." Asta said as he glared at the injured and scared man. "You...are gonna PAY!"


	31. Cave Chaos! A Sticky Situation!

**bulk Locke the the grim head: Thanks and Gauche's problem is that loves his sister WAY too much.**

 **Mrgamerandwatcher: Thanks.**

 **BanRedfox: Yeah, that is something awesome to see!**

After the blow was given, Baro placed his right arm over his chest to try and catch his breath. Not even bothering to wipe the blood from his lips as more leaked out.

"What do you think you're doing Neige? Stop daydreaming and attack!" he said as he saw his little brother was doing nothing.

The scared, snow colored enemy jumped a bit before giving a scared yell and pointing his finger out, sending a wave of his magic power out and creating more snow golems to fight for him. The snowy golems charged into battle as the group of heroes prepared themselves.

"More of these things?" Gauche commented as he had his hands in his pockets, giving a relaxed composure as his grimoire floated to his right and a magic mirror floated to his left. "Go, **Mirror Magic. Reflect Reframe.** "

The mirror caught a quick reflection of Neige before firing a blueish white magic beam that reflected off of other hidden magic mirrors around the large cave and destroying the snow golems with ease. This caused Neige to scream in fright as he shut his eyes and covered his head as debris fell around him.

"Are you finished?" Gauche asked as Neigh uncovered his head.

The mirror mage walked towards Neigh with the same calm composure and said, "If you are, then die."

Neige yelped in fright as he backed away from Gauche, who kept walking towards him.

"Stop. Get away, get away!" he screamed causing Gauche to stop in his tracks.

2 seconds later, a large structure made of snow and looking like coral engulfed Gauche up to his chest and held him in place.

 **"Snow Binding Magic! Snow Lime Rock!"** Neige shouted as he stared at his captured enemy, changing his frown to a nervous smile. "I got you!"

On the sidelines, Sister Theresa and Marie were watching the battle and hoping that Asta and Gauche would win. Though they were a bit worried when they saw Gauche become trapped.

"He's stuck." Marie said as she took a step back.

"And his mirror's been blocked. This isn't good." S. Theresa commented as she observed.

"Hang on, Gauche. I'll get you out right away!" Asta said as he was about to go to his fellow mage.

"Get me out?" Gauche said before he turned to Asta's direction." Stop trying to show off for, Marie. It'll never work!"

The comment made Asta drop his jaw and let out a gurgled yelp, seeing that Gauche's mind was still focused on the worst possible thing to think of at the moment, his sister, Marie.

"This is not the time for this!" S. Theresa said as she heard the comment.

"Stay out of this! Everything is under control!" Gauche yelled as he turned to the nun and his sister before turning back to Neige. "Leave this to us."

This comment confused them but made Baro jump a bit as he shouted to his little brother, "Look out, Neige! Behind you!"

This caused the snow white mage to turn his head but it was too late as he was his with a magic beam in his back, he let out a gasp as his eyes grew still and he fell to the ground. The source of the beam was none other then a magic mirror floating in front of Gauche, a Gauche created from the original Gauche's **My Real Double** spell.

"Guh. How, is there another?" Neige said as he laid on the ground with his back smoking.

 **"Mirror Magic. My Real Double."** both Gauches said as they stared at the downed snow mage.

"This spell allows me to call forth a double from the world of mirrors and bring him into this one. I cast it the exact moment before you captured me in your snow." the real Gauche said as he was held in the snowy coral.

"Amazing! That magic is 100% awesome, Gauche!" Asta said as he witnessed the feet.

'It appeared the smaller one has a large amount of magic power, enough to cover an entire village.' S. Theresa thought as gazed upon the stunned enemy. 'But Gauche's magic is it's equal, perhaps it's superior. And it simply excels when he fights.'

As she was giving her analysis, Gauche's mirror self freed him from the snow binding spell and returned to the mirror world as the original stared down at Neige.

'His strength is great but his attitude is still as rotten as a bad apple.' S. Theresa thought.

As this was happening, Baro stayed in his down position on the floor, watching as his brother feel in battle and the two bull knight watched him.

'Stop laying around and fight, Neige! Damn and I still can't move from that brat's punch, there has to be something I can do to save this job!' Baro thought before he turned his gaze towards a large, glass tube filled with stolen magic power. 'Yes, I could-'

The man's thought were interrupted as Asta, who walked towards him, grabbed his the edge of his shirt.

"Just what in the hell drove you to do something so twisted?! What gives you the right to take something that just as well could've been taken from you?!" Asta asked as his grip tightened and his eye grew angrier.

Baro said nothing for a second before suddenly chuckling at Asta and full blown laughing at him.

"What are you getting upset about? It's not like they knew anyway. Who cares if a bunch of worthless brats lose something while I still have it?" he said with a smile.

This drove Asta over the edge as the veins around his eyes bulged, his eyes glowed yellow, and the scream of a unholy beast could be heard in the cave as Asta yelled in the cave.

"YOU BASTARD!" he shouted as he brought his fist back.

"Asta, don't!" S. Theresa exclaimed as Asta threw his fist at Baro or so she thought.

What the dragon slayer was really aiming for was the cave wall, striking it with all his strength and causing a spiderweb of cracks to form with his magic pulsing through the cracks! The blow unleashed a shockwave behind Asta and kicked up a cloud of dust as he stayed there for a moment before pulling his fist back and glaring at Baro.

"That punch was what someone like you deserved and it's what you're gonna get if ou don't fix this NOW!" he said with venom in his voice.

Baro didn't, couldn't say a thing as he turned his sight towards the place in the wall where Asta struck, only imagining if that had been him.

"That's enough, Asta." S. Theresa said as she came walking towards them with her grimoire floating in front of her. "You've wasted enough energy on him, don't waste anymore."

The nun then silently commanded ropes made of fire around Baro to keep him from doing any other heinous acts.

"We need to remember the task at hand, getting the children to safety." she said as Asta began to calm down enough to force the bulging veins away.

"Okay, now, tell us how return their magic!" Asta demanded to Baro.

"Uh, alright alright. I'll tell you everything you need, but I just nee to be let go so I-" Baro said as he gazed to his right.

"Not happen and quit stalling!" Asta interrupted, making Baro instantly shut up.

"You truly are scum. The worst of the worst." S. Theresa said before addressing Asta. "Asta, use your magic to free the children like you did with Marco. And don't try anything else funny, you criminal." she finished referring to Baro.

Sister Theresa and Asta said nothing else as they turned around and headed towards the group of hypnotized children while Baro still against the wall in flame magic ropes.

"Seems pretty pointless if I'm tied up like this, don't you think?" Baro said as he saw them walk away, not seeing the devious smirk on his face. ' **Mud Magic. Mud Man.'** he thought.

Behind Baro, a tiny golem of mud formed with a small smile on it's face. It then scurried off in the direction of the Magic Syphoning machine while Asta, who was in **Iron Shadow Dragon Mode** , was freeing the children from Neige's mind control spell. The dragon slayer had out his hands while multiple wisps of mist went into all the kids ears and drove out Neige's spell. Slowly, all the children came to their senses and wonder where they were instead of their homes with their families.

"It's alright, you're safe now children." S. Theresa said with a smile.

"Asta!" said a girl with red hair, Luca, who ran to him.

"Hey, Luca, it's good to see you're alright." Asta said as he rubbed her head.

Gauche and Marine then walked towards the nun as Gauche demanded something in his usual disrespectful tone.

"Heal my sister's injuries, you cow. Now." he said, drawing everyone's attention.

"I was just about to, you uncouth savage." S. Theresa said as her grimoire opened and flipped it's pages. **"Flame Recovery Magic. Sacred Healing Lights!"**

In mere moments, dozens of lite candles made of magic hovered over all of the children, who were staring in amazement at the magic.

"Hey, you brats." Gauche suddenly said, drawing their attention as he pointed at them with his left hand. "My sister gets the best spot, so move now."

"It's fine. It doesn't matter where I sit." Marie said as she looked back at her brother.

"Oh, Marie, so kind." Gauche said as he dropped his hand and placed it on his face. "You truly are an angel and only an angel deserves the best."

Gauche then placed arms to the side and gazed towards the ceiling, as if he was basking in a holy light. Sister Theresa just turned her head with closed eyes and crossed her arms.

"The spells will still work, not matter where she sits." she said.

"Hey, Marie, you must be hungry from all this. How about some Pot-Potatoes from Hage Village?" Asta said as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small bag of Pot-Potato food Charmy made earlier.

"Don't bring that garbage near my sister." Gauche said as he turned to Asta.

"Hey! Don't insult my home's specialty!" he retorted.

As this argument was happening and the children were being healed, the mud golem Baro made was climbing onto a table with beakers and test tubes. It then gabbed a tube like object before pushing the top, showing it to be a button, and causing it to flash while giving off a low volume, high pitched hum. This object was an emergency beacon and Baro was calling for help.

"Hahahahahaha." the mud golem let out as the object continued to flash.

This was caught only by Asta as his enhanced dragon slayer hearing let him hear the low hum and laugh.

"Huh?" Asta let out as he was about to turn to it until Sister Theresa caught his attention.

"Excuse me, Asta, but were you by any chance raised at the church in Hage Village?" she asked after hearing Asta mention Hage.

"Oh! Yeah, why do you ask?" Asta answered and questioned.

"Well, it just so happens, there's a nun there that came to me for training. It was Sister Lily and she told me all about a special orphan in her care." S. Theresa said, surprising Asta.

"Really?! You know, Sister Lily?" he asked.

"Yes and she's one of the most innocent and sweetest young ladies I've ever met in my life." the nun answered with a smile.

"Yeah she is." Asta said with a smile before looking surprised and nervous." Wait, what exactly did she say about me?"

This worried Asta since he was well aware that he wasn't the most behaved child at the church.

"She told me you were rather small and very noisy." S. Theresa answered, making Asta gawk a bit in embarrassment. "But don't worry, that wasn't all that she said."

The flame using nun then thought back to the time Sister Lily was training in the Nean Church and the little story she was told about Asta and his efforts.

"She told me about how hard a worker you are, how you never give up no matter the problem, and your heart with the strength of ten other who always makes her proud." S. Theresa said with a proud smile, finding out that everything Sister Lily told her was true. "And now, looking at you now, it seems like your hard work has paid off and you finally acquired magic after so many years."

The story made Asta silent for a bit before a big smile grew on his face.

"Well, I ain't done yet. I won't stop until I become the Wizard King one day!" he said with raised fists.

"Well, about that-" S. Theresa tried to say but failed.

"I got a lot of work to do but that hasn't stopped me before and it won't now." Asta said as he continued to smile.

A sudden scream took both Asta and Sister Theresa's attention else where as they saw Gauche approached Neige, who was sitting up and backing away, before kicking him to his back.

"You. You were the one who hit my sister." Gauche said as he gave Neige an icy glare. "Marie told me everything and a crime such as that can only be paid for with your life."

Gauche then kicked Neige once more as Asta and Sister Theresa watched the scene.

"Enough, Gauche." the nun said, knowing that this may have been justified but it was unnecessary.

"Please, stop. I'm fine." Marie said as she joined Asta and Sister Theresa. "I'm all healed, can't you forgive him? Please?"

The mirror mage was currently standing over Neige as the snow wizard was on his side and clutching his stomach, covered in bruises.

"Not a chance, Marie." Gauche said as he walked forward and steps on Neige's head. "Anyone who threatens you is granted no mercy."

"That's enough, Gauche! We need to focus on getting the children's magic back, not your petty vengeance!" S. Theresa spoke up as she reached her boiling point.

She then turned to Baro, who was still tied by fire, and started questioning him.

"Tell me, why did you do this? These children are the future of the kingdom, 3 leaf clovers that will bloom to insure the future shall be prosperous." S. Theresa said as the children gazed at her from behind.

Baro didn't say a thing as Neige started crying before speaking.

"I just wanted some friends. Baro, please, what do I need to do!" he cried while Baro was thinking how to get out of this situation.

'You can stop you're whining for baby for an instant! Damn it, damn it, damn it!' he thought as sweat ran down his forehead. 'What did I do to deserve this?!'

Baro then thought back to the one who talked him into doing this, a woman in robe with messy black hair.

'It's all that girl's fault! We were suppose to make a fortune, not have it be a trick!' he thought as he thought back to the beacon on the table with the beakers. 'Come one you stupid girl, show your face and save me!'

The criminal's prayers seemed to have been answered as a sudden voice rang through the cave.

"WOW!"

The caused everyone to go on guard as this owner was no where to be seen. However, a certain someone was able to recognize the owner of the voice since they have met before. Asta, Gauche, and Sister Theresa turned their heads behind them and saw a familiar magic portal was opening in the air above them.

"That voice," Asta said in a whisper before he caught a whiff of the air. "And that smell, I recognize them."

"It's about damn time! Pretty slow for a spacial magic user!" Baro said as the portal grew bigger. "We hit a snag! Some help would be nice, ya know!

A lone person emerged from the top of the portal and looked down upon Asta, Sister Theresa, Gauche, Neige, and Baro.

"UUHH, will you quit whining? It's getting annoying. But since it's looks like you've brung me something special, I can let it slide." she said as she jumped away from the portal.

What they were meet with was the sight of Sally, a member of the Eye of the Midnight Sun, with her robe open to reveal that she was wearing a maroon crop top, maroon mini shorts that were held by a string around the waist and cut to expose her hips while wearing a pair of black knee-high boots

"Hey, Asta!" Sally said with a wave of her right hand.

"The Eye of the Midnight Sun, so they're behind this." Asta thought as he stared at the enemy.

"I'm so happy I get to see you again in such a short time!" Sally finished with a laugh as she kept waving.

"And they sent the slimy one as backup!" he said as he prepared himself for a fight.

"Oh, what do we have here? I thought when the transmission item alerted me, you'd be done by now." the crazed woman said as she held up a item similar to the one on the table of beakers. "But's it looks like you haven't gather much."

Sally then dropped the item as Baro let out his complaints.

"Well, that's their fault. They got in the way!" he referred to Asta and Gauche.

"Yeah but I guess it doesn't matter anymore." Sally relied.

As this transpied, Sister Theresa was with the children to try and kept them calm.

"Stay here, children. Please don't move." she said, causing the children to jump a bit before she went to join Gauche and Asta. "Midnight Sun? Is that their master and the ones who attacked the capital?" she finished turning to Asta and Gauche.

"Yeah, it's them!" Asta answered.

"So, it was you. You're the one who was responsible for my little sister being taken and hurt!" Gauche said as he glared at Sally, who had a smile on her face and her grimoire in her right arm. "You die!"

He overprotective brother then fired a mirror beam at the gel magic using enemy but his attack didn't do what he expected.

 **"Gel Magic! Sticky Salamander!"** Sally commanded as a giant salamander made of magic gel formed in front of her and redirected the beam to the ceiling as it entered the gel body.

Gauche gasped and stared in shock, having never seen his attack be redirected so effortlessly, at the sight the befell him.

"Do you mind?! I'm trying to have a sweet reunion and you're being rude!" Sally exclaimed with a frown. "Maybe I should kept all of you for that! OH, the dissections we'll have!" she finished with a gleeful voice.

"That magic, I've never seen anything like it!" S. Theresa said as she eyed the strange magic.

"Be careful, it's a lot stronger than it looks! I heard it was able to withstand the Silver Eagle's Captain attack!" Asta said as he recalled what he heard from the day of the invasion, nearing the end after he was rendered unconscious.

This caused a unpredictable reaction from Sally as she gasp, most likely feeling a strange sense of happiness from Asta saying how powerful her magic was, even if he wasn't conscious to see it. She then started to laugh in a mix of a giddy child and crazy person before jumping into the gel salamander and commanding it to shot towards Asta, Gauche, and Sister Theresa at breakneck speed.

"Go go go!" she said as the gel lizard flew.

"Heads up!" Asta said as he, Gauche, and Sister Theresa prepared themselves. **"Iron Dragon Lance! Demon Log!"**

Asta didn't hesitate to fight as he turned his right arm into an iron spear head and leap towards Sally with great leg strength! He threw a thrust towards the gel salamander but his attack missed as the gel construct shifted it's body to dodge the attack and prevent Sally from getting hit. Asta growled in frustration while Sally laughed with glee before he twisted his body to rebound off a cave wall and try again.

"Not yet!" Asta said as he shot off the wall.

The dragon slayer tried for another thrust but this one failed as well due to the gel salamander made it's head open a hole for Asta to fly through.

"No way." Asta said as he stared at the gel creature, with Sally giggling as she was inside.

"Silly little dragon. Your attacks don't work if they don't hit." she said with a smile.

"How about my attacks then?" Gauche said, speaking up and making Sally remember that he was there too. **"Mirror Magic. Reflect Refray."**

Multiple magic mirrors flew through the air around the cave and fired multiple beams into the gel salamander, which just redirected all of the beams like it did the first time.

'The beams, she's warping them.' Gauche said with a mirror floating next to his head, which showed a reflection of the gel salamander, as he watched the repeat of his first actions.

"That's some nice magic you got, but if it just refracts in **Mr. Salamen** , it's not that good." Sally said as she waved her right hand, which was covered in her robe sleeve, from side to side. "Maybe you try a strong attack like this!" she finished, sending a quick blast of gel at Gauche.

This surprised Gauche as the gel slowed down, giving the illusion that he could dodge it but that was a trick as when he jumped to dodge, it sped up a bit and covered his torso before pulling him to the wall to trap him there.

"Gauche!" Asta said as he witnessed this.

Before he had a chance to try and save him, **Mr. Salamen** and Sally dropped down in between Asta and Gauche.

"Now it's your turn, Asta!" Sally said as she commanded **Mr. Salamen** to fire another gel attack.

"RRRAAAHHHH!" Asta shouted as he put as much power into his spear hand, making it glow with his magic, and launch it to the gel.

The attack made contact as the gel broke apart but it didn't get all of the gel as more came behind and started to wrap around his arms and legs. The next instant was a blur as Asta was suddenly pulled into through air and place on **Mr. Salamen's** back, where Sally emerged out and loomed over Asta with big drops and strands of her gel covering her body.

"Oh, finally. Up close and personal once more." Sally said as her tongue stuck out and licked her top lip.

"C-can't move." Asta let out through his clenched teeth and slight fearful expression.

The young dragon slayer was shaking like a leaf with Sally in such a close proximity due to her still giving him the creeps with her love for dissecting and the crazed look in her eyes, his instincts were currently at their highest and screaming at him to get. away. FROM. THIS. CRAZY. WOMAN!

"Oh, Asta. So ordinary looking but so so much more on the inside." Sally said before licking the left side of Asta neck. "You're miraculous!"

She then moved to the right side of Asta's neck with her mouth open and planning to bite, but it failed as Asta quickly covered his body with iron scales. Though she saw the scales, Sally still bit down into his neck as hard as she could for her diagnose.

"Grr. What are you doing? You can't bite through!" Asta said as he heard the iron scales being scratched up by her teeth.

"Hmm. Even if the veins are covered, I can tell your blood is normal and your scales seemed different from normal iron magic." Sally said after she took her mouth off. "Now, to try and acquire a finger nail sample."

Sally then moved her attention toward's his hand and tried to get an iron covered finger nail, adding some acidic gel to her hand to strengthen her efforts.

"AAHHH! Stop!" Asta said in pain from the acidic gel.

A sudden moment later, a series of small explosions was set off inside of **Mr. Salamen**. This surprised Asta and Sally as the pages of a grimoire were heard turning.

 **"Flame Magic! Brilliant Flame Cross!"** S. Theresa shouted as she held her left hand over her grimoire.

The small explosions in **Mr. Salamen** expanded before they all exploded in the shape of a giant, bright, church cross! The remainder of **Mr. Salamen** had be throw around the cave as Asta and Sally feel to the ground.

"Aw! **Mr. Salamen** melted!" Sally said with glee.

"Hmm rahh!" S. Theresa growled as she dashed towards Sally at great speed with her right hand covered in her flame magic.

Sally was lucky enough to lean her body back just in time to dodge the attack and let the wind push her back a bit. Asta was currently getting up front the ground as he was witnessing the display by the nun, who landed in front of Asta.

"That's quite enough! You're not getting this one!" she said with conviction.

"Can you not get in my way, please?" Sally let out as she lost her smile at the old nun.

'That was amazing!' Asta thought as he stared at Sister Theresa before saying, "Thanks for that, you're more powerful than I thought!"

Sister Theresa turned to him and held her right hand out while saying, "Never underestimate Theresa, the Crimson She Leopard! Even when you leave, you are always a Magic Knight!"

Asta was put into a shock as the kind nun had just revealed that she had once been a powerful Magic Knight!

'I did NOT see this coming!' he thought with a hanging mouth before standing up, turning his hand back to normal, coming to his senses and saying, "A former Magic Knight, She Leopard? Did you, by chance, know Captain Fuegoleon?"

Sister Theresa smiled at the question.

"Of course, I was the one who trained little Fuego." she said, causing Asta to shout a bit.

"Little Fugeo?!" he replied.

"Back when I was a young knight, I was in charge of his education and training." S. Theresa said as she remembered training a young boy version of Fuegoleon in the ways of magic. "He was a bit of a mess back then but he ended up alright."

'I...can't quite picture that.' Asta thought before remembering what happened to the lion captain during the invasion, gaining a crestfallen look before telling the nun, "I guess you haven't heard about what happened to him, did you? They...uh-"

"Yes, I'm aware of what they did." S. Theresa answered as she turned back to Sally, who was standing in front of Baro. "And we will capture them to prevent that from happening again."

As Asta and Sister Theresa go ready to fight, a sudden voice reminded them that he was still there.

"Mind helping me out of this, old bat?" Gauche said from his gel restraints, drawing Asta and Sister Theresa's attention.

"What do you think you're doing there, you foolish brute?" the nun replied.

"Shut it, you old crone." Gauche replied back.

"So, there against one now, huh? Sally said as she stared at Sister Theresa freeing Gauche. "I'm not to excited about these odds."

Hey, behind you." Baro said, drawing Sally's attention to him. "If you freed me from these restraints, I can help you with my **Mud Magic.** It'll be a win win if you do, you get an ally to help and I get out of these fire ropes. You can do that, right?"

"Well, yes, I know a way to get you out but are you completely sure you want me to?" Sally asked, wanting to be SURE Baro wanted this for some reason.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you need to do, just do it." Baro answered, not caring it it was bad or not.

"Hmm, okay, since you're sure." Sally said.

"Yes." Baro said.

"Are you reaaallly sure?" Sall asked once again, smiling at what Baro was asking for.

"Yes. Yes. YES! Just do it already!" Baro kept saying, wanted to be free already.

From the side lines, Asta continued to watch and wonder just what the crazy, gel girl was planning.

"Hey, what're you to doing over there?" he shouted, drawing a nervous Baro to him before he returned to Sally.

"Hurry! Get me out of these and pay me like we agreed, and I'll help you take down all of them." Baro said with a panic look while inside he was smirking smugly at Sally. '"As if. Once I'm free and I have my money, you're on your own.'

"Okay then, since you're 100%, here." Sally said as she walked up to Baro and stuck a needle in his neck, the same needle that was the **Dark Magic** **Item** she used on her **Sticky Salamander** back at the end of the invasion.

Everyone stared in surprised at the sudden action as Baro didn't move a muscle.

"What in the?" S. Theresa said as she, Asta, and Gauche watched this happen.

Sally giggled at this as she fully injected the contents of the **Dark Magic Item** into Baro's blood stream. Baro felt something happen to him, something painful as he felt his veins expand and his heart grow so suddnely.

"Auh! AAAAHHHHH!" he screamed as his entire body twitch before breaking the fire ropes.

His screams continued to fill the cave as his little brother, Neige, stared in fear and worry. Even if they didn't have the greatest family bond, Baro was still his big brother.

"What's happening to him?" he asked as everyone wondered the same thing.

"What'd you do?!" Asta demanded to know as his instincts warned him of danger coming from Baro.

Sister Theresa could only bite her bottom lip as they all watched the scene unfold. Baro's mud magic started seeping out of his eyes, mouth, and ear without his say so, grow more and more out of control as it started to cover his body.

"His magic, he can't control it! It keeps swelling and spitting out of him! He's becoming a monster!" S. Theresa said as she and everyone else continued to watch in horror.

More and more mud came oozing out of Baro before shooting into the air and forming a giant, mud golem! It opened it's oozing blank eyes and mouth before roaring down at Asta, Sister, Theresa, Gauche, and Neige.

"Whoopsie! Looks like it didn't work after all!" Sally said as she rubbed the back of her head. "I mean it got you out and you have a ton of magic power but it's not as cool if you turn into a giant monster thingy."

The mud monster the used to be Baro roared as it raised it's right hand and struck the cave wall, causing it to crumble under it's new strength. This caused the children to scream in fear as way they saw was something no young person should EVER see.

"Asta! Gauche! We must protect the children!" S. Theresa said as she ran to join Asta as he stood in front of the taken children.

"Right!" Asta said as he turn his right hand into his iron sword.

They were about to fight the mud monster until Gauche came flying by on his broom stick and he grabbed his sister, Marie.

"We're leaving. Let's go, Marie." the overprotective brother said.

"Wait, stop! What about the other kids? You can't leave them." Marie said as she looked back to the others.

"They don't matter, all I care about is you." Gauche said as he continued to fly him and Marie out.

"Gauche!" Asta shouted in shock as his fellow knight running away to save JUST Marie.

"That stupid fool!" S. Theresa said, disappointed in Gauche once gain.

Their attention was soon diverted back to the mud monster that was once Baro as it brought it's mud fist down to strike them, but they quickly dodged the attack. The impact was greater than Asta thought as the shockwave behind it launched him into the air, lettinga giggling Sally get a perfect view of him.

"This time, I'm not letting you get away, Asta!" she yelled. "You're mine now!"

Asta had finally reached the ground and landed in a crouching skidding position while dragging his sword in front of him, trying to slow down to a halt. Chunks of the broken ground landed around him and created a cloud of dirt as he finally came to a stop and glared at the monster of a battle before him and the former knight turned nun.

* * *

 **Apologies for the wait, Moved back into College for the fall and had some personal things to do.**


	32. Fight for Someone, New Danger Appears!

**bulk Locke the the grim head: Thanks for the compliment and understanding.**

 **ahmadzaidi: Here you go.**

The mud giant that was once known as Baro stood tall as it's roared echoed through the cave.

"Man, it's giant!" Asta said as he and S. Theresa starred at it.

"It'll be difficult to defeat something that size." the nun added as she heard the children behind them screaming and crying in fear. "But for now, we need to focus on getting the children to safety."

Sister Theresa's grimoire floated in front of her and started flipping it's pages looking for a spell to use. Suddenly, a small flame appeared in the middle of the crowd of children before it expanded and formed a glowing leopard made of fire.

"Hurry, climb on his back and he'll take you to safety!" said as she looked back towards the children.

The children complied with her command and started climbing on the magic leopard's back, giggling and complimenting on how cool or pretty it looked. The sight brought a nervous smile to the nun as she watched the children pet the leopard as well.

'It should take half an hour to get them all to safety, so Asta and I will have to hold these monster off until then.' she thought as her smile turned into a frown.

Asta took a step forward and pointed his **Iron Dragon Sword** to the mud golem.

"You're not going any further, you here me!" Asta said.

The golem didn't even acknowledge the threat as it took a step forward to Asta.

"Die, die. All of you die!" the golem said as it turned it's attention to Neige, who was still down on the ground.

Neige pushed himself up to see the golem that was once his brother step towards him and make incoherent words.

"What did that lady do to you? You aren't yourself anymore." Neige said.

The golem didn't seem to recognize his little brother as it raised it's right mud fist.

"Stop, you know me, Baro. I'm you brother, remember?!" Neige exclaimed in a desperate cry to reach him.

His attempted sadly failed as the golem brought it's fist down, forcing Neige to close his eyes in fear and wait for the impact. Though, it never came as Asta came and stopped the attack, slicing through the mud fist with his sword's spikes spinning. Mud puddles formed on the ground as Neige opened his eyes and saw Asta, his enemy not a few moments ago, was protecting him.

"Wh-Why did you do that?" Neige asked.

"I'm not gonna let you die until you take responsibility for your actions. That's all, so accept your punishment." Asta said as he gazed towards Neige.

Neige gasped at this while Asta pointed to the golem with his sword.

"Plus, your so called "brother" tried to to kill you and that won't stand in my book!" Asta shouted as he pulled his sword back and charged forward. "He's even more demented than I thought!"

He took off at great speeds and had his sword spikes spinning even faster.

"Since my iron can cut through you pretty easily, I'm gonna slice you to pieces!" Asta shouted until he gasped.

The golem's cut off hands grew back in almost an instant and slammed down in the ground in front of Asta, stopping him from charging any further.

"Your dragon magic is so cute but not even that will finish him that easy!" Sally said as she watched the fight. "You remember that Dark Magic Item I used, right? It chips away the life force of someone and overflows them with massive magical power!" she finished as she threw her arms out.

"You're a special kind of cuckoo, aren't ya?" Asta commented as he stared at the crazy woman.

The golem tried to grab Asta with it's other hand, but Asta acted quickly and sliced threw it but his effort were wasted as the mud monster grew another hand to replace it. Asta continued to slice away the mud monster but it just keep regrowing it's sliced away parts.

"It just won't stop!" he said as he continued to slice the mud away from him.

Behind the iron dragon, was a watching Sally on top of a mound of gel. She smiled and giggled at the sight before jumping towards Asta.

"I've got more presents for you, Asta! Here you go!" she said as she threw a blast of gel from her right hand.

Asta quickly turned around and saw that the gel was dividing, going for his body parts once more. He was about to try and cancel the attack with an **Iron Dragon Roar** until multiple small explosions appeared in front of him and took the gel attacks. Asta gasped as he turned to see Sister Theresa with her hand extended, showing that even when she was trying to get the children to safety, she had plenty of power to spare so she could give Asta aid.

"Sister?" he asked.

This turn of events caused Sally to frown as she had been denied Asta once more.

"Oh! You got in our again, that's starting to annoy me!" Sally gripped. "I don't have time to waste with crusty old ladies and their crustier magic power."

"I'd watch my tone if I were you, you little wiper snapper." S. Theresa said as she frowned at Sally while thinking, 'It may be true a person's body produces less magic power with age, they can still increase it with natural mana.'

The nun then stop her thought as she closed her eyes and held up her right fist, which was drawing in mana from the very air itself.

"What I may lack in power, I far exceed in technique. Age can never change that and with my experience, you're outmatched." S. Theresa said as he fist stop drawing in mana and she opened her eyes to glare at Sally with great intensity. "Go on and try me, child! You'll see what I mean!"

Sally seemed unaffected by the glare and the sudden shout as she replied to the nun.

"Geez, you sure are loud. Don't get so worked up, you'll go ahead and die if you aren't more careful."

Sister Theresa was insulted even more by this and held her left hand out with her grimoire floating in front of her.

"I won't lose to a disrespectful brat such as you!" she said as she used what magic power and mana as she could to create more mini explosions, setting them off at the mud giant and forcing it back.

'I'm doing as much as I can, but I can't fight and protect the children while they escape.' she thought as three children boarded her flame leopard and the leopard took of running. 'If something doesn't change, this will all go down hill. Damn, that Gauche, running away with his sister because of his own selfish desires as always!'

Thinking the same thing at once, Asta and Sister Theresa charged to fight Sally and the golem, shouting at the top of their lungs to give a war cry.

 **"Iron Dragon Roar!"** Asta shouted as he blew a giant spiral of iron at the mud giant, forcing the beast back with a hole in it's chest.

"RRRAAAHHH!" S. Theresa shouted as she ignited more mini flame explosions in to golem's face.

They two continued to fight for what seemed like hours, doing everything they could to hold the golem and Sally back while the children were taken to safety. As the fighting went on, Gauche was able to get his little sister, Marie, out to a group of children that had already gotten out and after some convincing, he was now heading back to aid Asta and Sister Theresa but he found no pleasure in it.

'Asta, Asta, Asta. That's all everyone's been talking about. What's so great about him?' Gauche thought as he flew back through the cave. 'How can the captain and the other squad members be so crazy about him? From what I saw, he wasn't any help.'

Gauche thought back to when Asta tried to strike Sally's **Sticky Salamander** spell, **Mr. Salamen** , and didn't do much damage to it.

'No doubt him and the hag have turned tail and ran. That just how most people are, always thinking about themselves.' Gauche thought this without any tone of regret. 'That's how I learned the world really works, people thinking about their own well being.'

These hard thoughts soon disappeared after he entered the previous large cave and saw Asta still fighting the mud golem, a shocked look came to his face as Asta sliced through the golems hand again. The dragon slayer fell to his knees and was breathing heavily, changing his arm back to normal as Sister Theresa and Neige watched the fight continue.

"Not yet." Asta said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag of iron nails. "I'm not done yet!"

He opened the bag and scraffed down several nails to regain his power.

"You really don't know when to give up, huh Asta?" Sally said as she was standing next to the mud golem on a floating piece of gel, still with the casual smile and deranged look in her eyes. "Just stop protecting them and let me experiment on you, it'll be a blast."

"Stop protecting them?" Asta said as he got up from the ground, smiling defiantly at the crazy woman. "Not gonna happen, you'd have to kill me to make me stop."

Gauche watched with sweat rolling down his face as it appeared Asta was serious about protecting the children, Sister Theresa, and Neige.

'He must be out of his mind or is just mindless.' he thought as he saw Asta charge up his magic.

 **"Iron Dragon Scales!"** he shouted as iron scales began to cover his body. " **Iron Dragon Sword!"**

The iron sword reappeared over his right hand as Asta jumped into the air. Bringing his sword arm back as the mud giant brought it's fist down.

"And I don't plan on dying anytime soon. Not until I become the Wizard King!" he shouted as he slight threw it but failed to see the other hand.

"Asta! On your right!" S. Theresa said.

Asta turned his head and saw the filthy hand coming towards him, silently preparing himself for the impact until Gauche made himself known and kicked Asta out of the way.

"You know, for a guy who went on about not dying, you looked like you were heading for your death bed." he said as he flew him and Asta away from the mud golem.

"Gauche, you came back!" Asta said, not really feeling the kick through his scales. "But that doesn't make up for ditching us in the first place!"

"Shut it." Gauche said as he stop flying his broom and let motion carry Asta to the ground landing face first in the dirt. "I didn't ditch you, I needed to get my sister to safety."

To the side, Sister Theresa was still near a smaller group of children as another 3 climbed on the leopard and departed.

"Oh, so the simpleton decided to return and help, has he?" S. Theresa said as she watched Gauche fly straight back to Sally and the mud golem.

"I'll finish you both myself." he said without a hint of arrogance in his voice.

This worried Asta and Sister Theresa as they know how strong Sally and the monster are.

"No, stop!" S. Theresa said.

"Gauche!" Asta added.

Sally saw this and spoke with a bit of glee in her voice.

"Didn't work before and it won't work now!" she said as she made gel cloud she was standing on turn into her **Sticky Salamander, Mr Salamen.**

"I'll fight the best I can." Gauche said with his grimoire in front of him and a magic mirror floating next to him. "I'll do anything to see that Marie is proud of her big brother!"

The mirror gave off a bright light and suddenly, a second Gauche appeared flying next to the first one.

 **"Go Real Double."** they both said as the grimoire started flipping to another spell.

Suddenly, multiple mirrors appeared around the caves and the mirrors next to the two Gauches fired beams and caused them to be reflected off all of the surrounding magic mirrors. This sent multiple beams through the mud golem, which screamed in pain and into **Mr. Salamen** , which did nothing.

 **"Double Refray!"** the Gauches said.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Asta commented as he watched the display of Gauche's power.

Said mirror mage donned a look of shock as he saw the mud giant start to regrow the parts that were blasted away, like the attacks never happened.

'Any time we blast through it, more magic come from it and repairs the damage' the original Gauche thought as he and his clone flew through the finger of the mud monster that tried to catch them.

"Getting mad, aren't ya?" Sally question as she wagged her finger back and forth forth inside **Mr. Salamen** , which was reshaping itself back to normal.

'And on top of that, I haven't made a mark on that woman! I haven't been this outmatched since I fought the captain. Should I use my trump card?' Gauche thought before placing a hand over his covered, left eye. 'No, even if it'll make my magic stronger, it won't work on these two.'

His thought were soon interrupted as the mud monster tried to grab him again, thankfully he was able to fly out of the way in time but was sent to the ground with his magic double returning to the mirror world. Asta, Sister Theresa, and the remaining children watched with gasps as the mirror mage was on the ground.

"Gauche, are you alright?!" Asta shouted to him.

Gauche let out a few groans as he got up from the ground, not seeing the shadow the loomed over him until he opened his eyes to see the mud golem's hand hovering over him can coming closer.

'Damn. I didn't want to die like this.' he thought as he awaited his fate.

His untimely death never came to be as a iron scale covered Asta dashed in front of him with his cheeks puffed.

 **"Iron Dragon Roar!"** Asta let out as he fired his attack, destroying the giant mud hand that would've destroyed Gauche. "You idiot! You should never face someone alone when you've got back up!"

Asta then turned his head to show Gauche his slit eyes and a determined face.

"We're squad mates, right? And that not only means we're friends but we fight together!" he let out as he turned his whole body to face Gauche. "We cover each other backs and make sure no one takes us down, got it?!"

Gauche said nothing as he stared at Asta ad began to see what the other Black Bulls saw in the unique little knight.

"Remember that, and we'll always win!" Asta exclaimed before he turned around and charges into battle with a war cry.

Gauche gave a chuckle and smile before thoughting about Asta strategy. 'That's reckless and sloppy but it's something. Just like you, ya idiot. And just like Captain Yami.'

Gauche then thought back to when he and Yami first fought as he escaped prison, his lose was evident since Yami didn't even break a sweat. What shocked him the most after it, was that Yami offered him a place in his squad and didn't care about the crimes he had done.

'Captain, did you know something like this would happen? That I would find something else besides my sister to fight for?' Gauche thought as he smiled a bit at the memory.

Back to the battle, Asta had slice through the mud golem once again as Sister Theresa watched over the remaining kids as he flame leopard took another 3 to safety, leaving at least 10 or so left.

"How the escape, Sister?" Asta asked as he turned to them for a second.

"It's going fine, there's not many left." she said as she met his eyes.

The mud golem roared as it was about to attack until it was hit by a mirror beam, curtsy of Gauche.

"I guess there's no choice left." he said drawing everyone's attention. "I don't understand I but Marie would be heartbroken if I let you die here. So, I'll protect you."

This shocked Sister Theresa as she had never seen this side of Gauche before.

"Is this really the same man?" she asked herself.

"That's good to hear but don't think of this as a favor to your sister." Asta said as he turned his body to face Gauche. "Besides, it's like a said before, We're friends and we look out for each other."

"Hey, you better watch that attitude. I may be your friend but I'm also your senior squad member, I will be treated with respect." Gauche replied in a lighter non threatening tone.

Asta smiles at this and decides it's time to kick it up a notch. He closed his eyes and focused his magic until shadows started dancing around him and change him.

 **"Iron Shadow Dragon Mode."** Asta said as he opened his now full white eyes.

"That form again?" Gauche questioned, having seen it free the children earlier.

Before either of them of think or say another thing, the mud golem charged at them with a low roar and intent to destroy. This caused Asta to frown and reform his sword.

 **"Iron Shadow Dragon Sword! Slashing Wave!"** Asta shouted as he pivoted on his feet and sent of flying slash of shadow at the golem.

This surprised and intruriged Sally as she remembered that move from when she and her allies attack him back near the end of the invasion. The slashing attack stopped the mud golem by slicing off it's right arm, causing it to stumble back a bit. The monster regained it's footing before roaring and spewing more mud from it's mouth, reforming it's lose arm with ease.

"Darn it, not even my shadows are working?" Asta said as he gazed at the creature.

Sally suddenly pulled her head out of **Mr. Salamen** and laughed joyously at Asta's magic.

"Wow, you magic is really something. I can't wait to find out how you did that and how you changed into that form!" she said with a sudden innocent light in her eye that you would see with a child.

Gauche wasted no time in reclaiming his broomstick and flying towards the mud monster, blasting it with more and more mirror beams.

'If we're gonna beat this thing, we have to hit it hard enough to stop it's regeneration.' Gauche thought as he dodge any attack and fell of his broom before quickly grabbing it and swinging back on it. 'Our best chance is Asta's slash attacks, but even with his new form, they can't hit fast enough.'

While Gauche was thinking, Asta moved all around the mud monster in the form of a shadow before jumping out at random times and slashing at wherever the monstrosity was defenseless. Gauche watched this until a sudden idea came to mind.

'Could we win...if I use my magic on someone else?' he thought with hesitation, since he spent most of his life barely trusting anyone.

As he thought this, his grimoire turned to a blank page and started to fill it with a new spell, a spell that just might win them this battle.

'Great but I don;t have enough power to cast this spell.' Gauche thought before he turned to Sister Theresa, who was standing with a smaller group of children and said, "Hey, hag."

"Hm?" the nun replied, wondering what he was going to ask.

"Can you buy me some time so I can renew my power?" he asked, genuinely asking the woman he hated for help. "Please."

This caused Sister Theresa to gasp before giving a small smirk.

"You cad. Giving an elder orders like that."she said as he grimoire floating in front of her. "I won't be able to last long, so make it quick!"

She then gave a wave of her right arm and sent mini flame explosions all over the giant and monster, keeping it distracted as she promised Gauche. Sally saw this and held a dissatisfied look on her face,

"Looks like all the good stuff is gone and what you have left isn't even close to enough." she said before she returned to her happy face. "Now it's your turn, Asta! Show me what your magic can do!"

Asta was currently standing with heavy breaths as the shadows of his **Iron Shadow Dragon mode** were wavering a bit.

"Sorry to disappoint you but I can't do this forever." he said, causing Sally to groan and retreat her head back into **Mr. Salamen.**

The mud golem roared as it lifted it's foot to crush Asta, who jumped back and landed in front of Gauche and Sister Theresa.

'For so long, I've kept my left eye hidden.' Gauche thought as he placed a hand over the mention eye. 'But right now, it may be our best bet.' "Asta!"

The iron and shadow mage turned his head to the sound of his name as Gauche lifted the hair over his left eye showing that the other edges were scarred a bit and replaced with a small mirror. "Look at me!"

This surprised Asta a bit as his reflection appeared inside of the mirror eye.

"My left eye was replaced with a **Mirror Magic Tool** long ago." he said as he continued to stare at Asta. "I'll use that power in it to cast my new spell."

As he continued to stare at Asta, he made a mirror appear in front of Asta before it gave a bright light.

 **"Mirror Magic! Mirage Brigade!"** Gauche shouted.

When the flash of light died down, dozens of Astas where seen flying through the air coated in Gauche's magic power.

"Go, Asta." Gauche said with a smile and his left eye covered again.

Every Asta gave a battle cry as they sword spikes spun and gathered whatever shadow energy they had left to finish this mud monster.

 **"Iron Shadow Dragon Sword! Slashing Wave!"** They all yelled as each threw a slash of shadow magic.

The slashes did a large amount of damage as a large chunk of the mud monster was gone but their work wasn't done as they continued to slashed at the golem to scatter it across the cave and prevent it from replenishing itself. The same was currently being done to Sally's Mr. Salamen as it was starting to fall apart from all the hits.

"Aahhh!" Sally let out in worry.

The slashing continued until 3 Astas rose into the air and took in deep breaths.

 **"Iron Shadow Dragon Roar!"** They commanded as they unleashed 3 blinding white attacks that merged into one giant attack.

The roar attack hit dead on as a bright light filled the cave once more, 3 seconds after it cleared the mud beast appeared to be gone and Sally was sent sprawling to the ground with her body covered in scratched and her robes in tatters with the sleeves almost gone. All the mirror Astas some vanished and left the original standing in a before a cloud of smoke. Gauche let out a small laugh as he and Asta shouted that same thing.

"We did it!" while pumping their fists.

Sister Theresa couldn't fight the shocked look on her face as a single sweat ran down the right side of her face.

'Unbelievable, they combined their magics to defeat that monster?' she thought as she looked to the side to see Baro's shirt covering in a bit of mud. 'Whatever they did, it seems to have finished that mud creature.'

As she thought this, she caught the sight of Neige walking towards the clothes and picking them up. Crying a bit as he brought it into his person.

"Goodbye, Baro." he said between his sniffles, sad to see his big brother gone.

He let the tears fall freely as he turned to see a down and unconscious Sally.

"I swear, I'll never forgive her for this. For turning you into a monster." he said before looking back to Baro's shirt. "Or myself for just blindingly following you and doing what I was told, no matter how awful."

As this was happening, Asta had appeared in front of the snow magic and returned to his normal state. Watching as Neige stood up and stared at him.

"What you told me was true, it's time I take responsibility for everything I've done. I'll do it, I'll atone for every one of mine and my brothers sins." Neige said with conviction in his voice.

"That's good." Asta said with a smile. "And once you've done all that, how about we become friends? With that cool magic of your's you'd be pretty popular."

Neige gasped at this before giving a smile of his own.

"That would be won-" his words stopped short as he started to fall forward, confusing Asta until he saw something bright stabbing Neige in the back.

"NEIGE!" Asta said as he caught the snow mage before a bright light filled the room, one that was familiar to him.

Asta turned to the source and saw the same person he saw with the Wizard King a while ago.

'This light and this magic power, it's him again!' Asta thought as Gauche walked forward with a blank face and a slightly open mouth.

'This...power. It's incredible, like nothing I've ever felt.' Gauche thought as he didn't even blink at the brightness.

His thoughts were soon interrupted as the same light projectiles that hit Neige struck Gauche in his right shoulder and leg. He gasped for air as his mind caught up with what just happened.

'I-I didn't even see it happen. How?' he thought as he fell to his back.

Sister Theresa turned to Gauche and was just as confused and frighten as him.

"What just happened?" she said before she was turning her head back. 'Another one of them? Haven't these people done enough damage?'

She fully turned her head to see Valtos and another member of the Eye of the Midnight Sun, who was holding Sally in his arms, standing on a warp portal. Asta continued to stare at the light before he gently placed Neige on the ground, not seeing even more light projectiles heading towards him at breakneck speed.

"ASTA!" S. Theresa shouted as she ran to him.

All Asta heard was something being hit multiple times before turning his head and catching a horrible sight, Sister Theresa with blood running down her body and 5 light projectiles impaling her body.

"Old hag! NO!" Gauche said as the projectiles in his body vanished and he turned his head.

The same thing happened to the one that hit Sister Theresa before she fell to the ground.

"SISTER!" Asta said as he went to her side, hearing a smooth voice that drew his attention.

"You've injured my comrade." the man holding Sally said. "It seems only far I do the same."

Asta gazed at the man in shock, remembering that face as if it was engraved his his mind.

"It's you. They one I saw at their hideout!" he said with a bit a fear and shock in his voice.

"Please excuse me but I haven't introduced myself yet. I am Licht, leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun." he gazed as he met Asta's shocked and fearing eyes.

Asta couldn't help but be even more shocked when he saw the grimoire Licht was using had a four leaf clover, just like the one Yuno has.

'No way! He has a four leaf like Yuno?!' There's more than one?!' he thought in shock as he continue to stare at Licht.

The leader had multiple magic light projectiles floating around him as the mood of the room went from a wave of relief to a deathly chill.

* * *

OC Spells

1\. Iron Dragon Kunai. Metal Storm: Launching multiple iron kunai at once towards a target. Used in Chapter 10.

2\. Iron Dragon Sword. Spinning Slash: When air born ,transforms leg into iron sword, with spikes spinning, and give self a spin with plummeting to targer. Used in Chapter 13.

3\. Iron Dragon Cage: Use as a shield or trap, user thrusts arms into the ground and summons multiple Iron Clubs to form a pyramid around self or target. Used in Chapter 21.

4\. Iron Shadow Dragon Crushing Fist: Used in Iron Shadow Dragon mode. Fusing any amount of shadow magic into the Iron Dragon Hard Fist, it delivers a greater blow with more power. Used in Chapter 21.

5\. Iron Shadow Dragon Sword. Slashing Wave: Used in Iron Shadow Dragon mode. Infusing Shadow Magic into the sword allows it to send a flying slash attack towards opponents. Used in Chapter 25.


	33. Dark vs Light Part 1: Shadow's Aid

**bulk Locke the the grim head: Yeah, and he looks like one bad mother f##ker. Thanks.**

 **BanRedfox: I know, trying to step up in writing.**

Asta turned away from the leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun, Licht, back to the nun that gave her life to save his, Sister Theresa. Things weren't looking good for her as she was starting to form a puddle of blood around her from the 5 holes in her body from the light projectiles that hit her.

"Sister, no. Please, you stronger that this. Stay with me." Asta said as he tried to kept her friend passing out and dying.

Neige, who had recovered from the shock of the hit, was currently clenching the part of his back in pain as Gauche forced himself on his stomach and began to crawl to Asta and Sister Theresa.

"No, old hag! Wake up, I won't let you die on me! Marie would be heartbroken if you died." he said, seeing the nun shake a little. "And I wouldn't be happy about that either."

Sister Theresa opened her eyes and spoke as best as she could, "Ta-take care of the children, please. It's the weak that always pay the highest price on the field of battle. And being as innocent as the children are, they were the one I wanted to protect the most."

As she explained herself, the light in her eyes was starting to fade and signal her time was ending.

"That's why I left the battlefield and joined the church, to protect them." S. Theresa said as she started coughing up blood.

"Sister, no!" Asta shouted in fear.

As this was happening, Licht and Valtos watched in silence until Licht gave his opinion.

"What utter nonsense you speak." he said, drawing Asta's attention. "No one in this world is pure. From the moment of birth, every one of you is tainted by sin."

This angered Asta and he crossed his arms and summoned his **Iron Dragon Sword** to his right hand and **Iron Dragon Lance** to his left hand.

"Shut up!" he shouted until he saw tears go down Licht's face.

The Mightnight leader lifted a hand to Sally's face, causing her to gasp, as he gazed upon her damaged body.

"Just look at what they've done to you, Sally. You've been hurt greatly" he said in a soft voice.

"I'm sorry, master. I tried my best." she replied in equally soft voice.

"That you did and now, it's time for you to rest. Valtos." Licht said, giving his ally a command.

Valtos knew what this master meant and responded accordingly.

"Yes, sir." he said, waving a hand and creating a small, black portal in front of Licht.

Licht released his grip of Sally and let her float gently into the portal, while she turned her head to Asta one last time.

"Bye, Asta. I'll see you later, but don't forget. You still belong to me." Sally said as she was completely consumed by the portal that lead to most likely their base.

Asta held a grim look on his face momentarily before regaining his composure.

'What is with that girl?!' he thought, seeing that she still wanted him to an unhealthy extent.

"All the blame is mine, master Licht. I should've sent her with an ally." Valtos said, trying to take the blame. "If I did, this outcome would not have come to pass."

Valtos gazed towards the ground, seeing a downed Gauche and Neige, a dying Sister Theresa, and a still standing Asta with iron weapons at the ready.

"You don't need to blame yourself for this, Valtos. We both know how people like this fight." Licht said, causing the warp man to look at him. "They most likely won with under handed tactics and trickery alike."

"WE fight dirty?!" Asta retored, offended by the comment of the light man. "After what that crazy guy you hired did to those kids?"

Licht just stared at Asta, not caring what Baro had done, before giving his opinion once again.

"You know, that nun was wrong. The weak and innocent don't pay the highest price. No, but the strong who truly pay the price." he said as he narrowed his eyes at Asta. "Envy, fear, discrimination, persecution and robbed, the strong are giving only these things."

As the Midnight Sun master gave his speech, Asta stared at him with cation and curiosity.

'Envy, discrimination? What is he talking about?' he thought as he saw the light projectiles around Licht glow brighter.

"For all of these heinous crimes, the Clover Kingdom shall not be forgiven." Licht said as he gained a cold face. "Instead, you shall only receive justified destruction. And from the ruins, a new nation will be built."

Asta then pointed his sword arm to the man and gave his reply.

"Now hang on! Just what gives you the right to call us the bad guys?! You started this with the invasion, not the Clover Kingdom!" he said as his pupils began to slowly slit.

His eyes quickly returned to normal as he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his right thigh, where a light projectile had struck right through. He screamed in pain as Licht's cold face morphed into a face of calm and grim rage.

"Bite your filthy tongue, now." he said, hearing Asta groan in pain before Licht calmed down a bit. "It's rather painful actually, seeing a power that not even I have seen before in the hands of someone like you."

'My powers?' Asta thought before he put that aside. 'Forget that, I gotta focus on those attacks of his.'

Asta turned his gaze to his right thigh and saw the wound after the projectile disappeared. The skin was black and it wound appeared to be closed due to the heat of Licht's light attack, keeping the blood inside unlike the ones that hit Sister Theresa.

'They're faster that my eyes can see them. And I'm not sure my scales can block them.' he thought. 'But it's looks like I don't have a choice, I'll have to use try and use **Iron Shadow Dragon mode** again to try and prevent any fatal blows.'

Asta growled as he summoned his magic through the pain before charging and using his dual power mode once more.

 **"Iron Shadow Dragon mode!"** Asta shouted as his body began to change.

"I think not." Licht said as he suddenly appeared behind Asta, before he even blink. "I think I'll take you back, see if Sally can remove that magic from you. Judging by it's uniqueness and power, it deserves to be in more capable hands."

The light magic user held his left hand Asta and gather his magic into it for an attack, one that could end Asta.

'I couldn't move or change fast enough.' Asta thought as he ceased his transformation in shock before the shot was fire. 'I'm done for.'

He turned his head and saw the blast about to hit hum until a familiar white portal opened above him and his captain, Yami, jumped out with a katana in hand to slice away the attack and his purple glowing grimoire floating in front of him. This sudden entrance didn't phase Licht while Asta and Gauche were extremely surprised.

"Captain." Gauche let out.

Licht gained a small smile before using his light magic to instant move behind Asta, who was busy staring at Yami, at a distance once more.

"Captain? What are you doing here and how are you here?" Asta asked as Yami took a puff from his cigarette.

"What am I doing here? I don't know, kid. Maybe I got lost, is there a bar around here?" he said as he placed his katana, on his shoulder while Finral was behind him.

The Black Bull's portal user gave a small chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck, hearing Yami sound stupid yet cool at the same time. Though Asta just heard the one part at the end that made it him sound stupid.

"A BAR?! Wait, you're joking right? " he shouted before calming down a bit.

Yami arched a brow as he grabbed Asta head and gave it a tight squeeze.

"Jeez, I didn't know you had iron instead of brains, kid. Yes, it's just a joke." Yami said, hearing creaking sounds from squeezing Asta's head.

"I'm here because there's trouble, I'm a Magic Knight aren't I?" he said, giving a brief explanation. "We heard what was going down but everyone back at the hideout was useless as usual. So I came instead, I'll kill em later."

Asta couldn't help but sweat drop at this but he had to have expected this if he knew the Black Bulls long enough.

'Seriously? Not even this one time?' he thought.

As Asta though this, Finral was having his own thought about their current situation.

'We're here for this?! Why couldn't he let me sleep?' he thought as he stared at Licht.

Back to Yami and Asta, the squeezing and groaning of metal was still hard as Yami kept his hand on Asta's head.

"Another thing, what the hell are you two doing here? I thought I gave you the day off." he said as he strengthen his grip. "If you're having a hard time staying still, maybe I can held you stay put."

Asta let out a slightly loud groan as he was lifted off the ground and Yami kept his iron grip. A sigh was released from Yami as he let Asta down and walked in front of him to face Licht.

"So, tell me. What up with this creep?" Yami asked, wanting Asta to give him any information on Licht as he could.

"He said he's the leader of the group that invaded the capital, sir." Asta said as he changed his left arm back to normal and rubbed his sore head. "Licht, of the Eye of the Midnight Sun."

This caused Yami and Finral, more the latter, to jump and gaze at Asta.

"Those guys again?" Finaral commented.

"Well, well, I have to say I'm a little disappointed." Yami said as he imaged his version of the Eye of the Midnight Sun leader. "Here, I was imagining a huge guy that could decimate armies in one punch, not a scrawny freak with weird hair."

Licht didn't bother to reply to the comment as he continued to stare at them with his grimoire out and ready.

'Why does he think everything in this world is about muscle?' Finral thought as sweat went down his face. 'The magic power coming from this guys is enormous, nearly bottomless. And he has **Light Magic?** '

Finral turned his eyes upward and saw the multitude of light magic projectiles floating in the air.

'That's some of the rarest magic in existence, only a few people have ever wielded it!' he thought before he turned his gaze back to Licht. 'Whatever's going to happen, it's going to be very bad. Why couldn't I have stayed at home?'

As this was happening, Valtos had jumped down from his portal and landed a small distance from his master's right side.

"So, it looks like the Black Bull's captain came by himself. Should I summon the Third Eye for backup, master?" Valtos said, being cautious of the situation.

"There's no need, Valtos." Licht said as he regained his smile. "You see, it appears this magic captain is a wielder of **Dark Magic,** the exact opposite of mine. I'll enjoy pitting mine against him in battle."

As the wielders of opposite magic were about to do battle, Asta and Finral stood back and watch the tension build.

"Hey, Finral." Asta whispered, gaining the "lady killer's" attention. "Get the others back to Nean for me, will ya?"

"Uh, sure but what about you?" Finral asked in worry for Asta, who gazed down as is wounded leg.

"Don't worry about me, I can still fight." he said as he summoned his scales to cover his body and try and keep any other injuries from forming. 'Plus, this'll give me the chance to see just how strong Captain Yami is. I may never get a chance like this again.'

Finral accepted Asta's answer and turned to Gauche and Neige, who were struggling to get off of the ground.

"Hey, you guys. Can you walk?" he asked.

Gauche fully got on his feet before yelling to Finral, "See to the hag first, and hurry!"

"Right, okay." Finral said while he thought, 'Does he not care that I'm actually his superior?'

Finral turned back to Yami and gave a the best look of determination he could muster.

"Alright, Captain Yami, it's all up to you now." he said as he turned to Sister Theresa, who was laying behind him.

"Hey," Yami said as he gave Finral a dirty look. "You better come back to get me. Got it?"

This cause Finral to jump as he turned his face away from Yami.

'Did he know I was planning to sneak away? That's impossible!' Finral thought before he turned back to Yami and said, "Well, actually, I might be low on mana, so this might be a one way trip. No kidding."

"Yeah, well take a good look at my face. Do I look like I'm kidding?" Yami replied, not caring if he was low or not.

"Hehehe." Finral let out as he rubbed the back of his head. "No sir. You do not."

Suddenly, a light projectile flew towards Finral but it didn't hit it's target as Yami destroyed it with a lazy swing of his katana.

Finral let out a small stutter as Licht held a slight look of surprise, having seen Yami was fast enough to block not one but two of his light magic attacks.

"You trying to mess up my ride?" Yami said as he gave the same dirty look he gave Finral to Licht.

'Your ride?!' Finral thought as he pick up Sister Theresa. 'Okay, now it's time to leave. I do not want to die today.'

The portal black bull speed walked over to Neige and Gauche before quickly opening a portal for all of them.

"I'm off. These people need to get to safety!" he shouted from a good distance.

"You better come back, Finral or else!" Yami shouted as the portal closed.

Asta gained a look of excitement as he witnessed Yami blocking another light projectile at impressive speed.

"How did you see that hit coming? It's pure light!" he exclaimed. "And what's that sword made of? I can't be nor-"

"Would you shut up, kid?" Yami said as he readjusted his grip on his blade. "To answer your questions, this is a katana. A sword from my native country, the Land of the Sun. I blocked his hit by-"

Yami ceased his explanation as he saw the light projectile glow brighter, alerting him that the true battle was about to begin.

"Never mind, no time to explain. Besides, actions speak louder than words." Yami said as he entered a crouching position with his sword at the ready.

The projectiles floated down until they all pointed forward and towards magic.

"Engage. **Light Magic. Light Sword of Conviction.** " Licht said as the light swords launched towards Yami.

The Black Bull captain wasted no time in retaliation as he gave two slashes of his katana, leaving a trail of dark magic in the air but to Asta's surprise and awe, multiple dark magic slashes appeared and destroyed every light sword that came in close range.

"Incredible!" ASta said as stars appeared in his eyes.

'Interering.' Licht thought as more light swords flew past him. 'Using **Reinforcement Magic** to boost his natural abilities while cloaking his sword in his **Dark Magic** to block my attack.'

Yami seemed to be getting serious as he started slashing his sword again and again to block the light magic attack.

'But I feel there's more to it than it appears.' Licht thought more as he saw Yami with a strange look on his face. "Alright, let's try this then."

Repeating what he did twice alreay, Licht used his magic to instantly appear behind Yami, who was finished slashing away light swords, and held out his left hand with magic charging up to finish him.

'Captain Yami!' Asta thought as he forced himself into **Iron Shadow Dragon mode** as fast as he could before turning into a shadow and speed to them.

Yami was about to swing his sword and stop the attack until Asta rose from the ground and kicked Licht's hand up, surprising and forcing him to fire his attack at the cave ceiling. Both parties were forced to jump back as a few boulders fell to where they once stood.

"Kid?" Yami let out as he was seeing Asta's new form for the first time and was interested in it. 'Is that **Dark Magic?** I thought he just had some dragon iron or something?'

"Sorry for interrupting your fight, sir. I just from what I've seen, you could handle yourself but even so, I couldn't just sit by and watch. Not when I can at least be of some help." Asta said as he glared at Licht with his white eyes.

"Your power is impressive, even if you're an unorthodox Grand Magic Knight." Licht said as he smiled at Yami, who turned his head to meet his gaze with the same bored look. "And it appears that this one is just as full of surprises as you are." he finished turned his sights to Asta.

"Yeah, I guess he is." Yami said, putting his questions about Asta's magic on hold and turning to Licht. " But you know, I think I've seen you before actually." Yami said, causing Licht to flinch for a moment.

Yami saw this and took the chance to close the distance between them and stab Licht in the eye but the attack was dodged. Trying once again with a slashed adding some of his magic Yami tried again but it was dodged as well when Licht quickly jumped back. Seeing a chance to strike, Asta turned into a shadow once more and speed behind the Midnight leader before jumped out behind him and trying to land a punch but each attack missed as Licht seemed to have greater physical prowess that expected and even used his magic to disappear and reappear a few times.

"But I'd think I'd remember brightly clearing if I fought someone who used **Light Magic!** " Yami said as he jumped in and swung his sword at Licht again, aiding Asta as they tried to tag team Licht.

But Licht only kept dodging with ease before vanishing once more and reappeared in the air before sending another light sword at Yami and Asta, but Asta was barely quick enough to backhand the attack. The swords of light didn't didn't stop as Licht kept firing and Yami, who kept slashing through them, and Asta, who standing behind Yami for safety.

"So, what's your goal any way? You just go around and attack people because it's fun?" Yami asked as Licht disappeared again.

The light user appeared behind Yami and Asta again but didn't get to attack as Yami quickly stabbed his sword close to his head and behind him, forcing Licht to dodge to the left. After Yami spun around, he and Asta repeated the attacks from before and tried to land a hit on Licht with their punches or slashes, but their attacks kept getting dodging before Licht disappeared and reappeared in the air above once more.

"What's my goal?" Licht repeated Yami's words as he made more swords of light appear around him. "Let me tell you a story since you're curious."

He launched his light swords at Yami and Asta, with Yami cutting through them with ease as Licht begun his story.

"Once upon a time, there a village and within it, were people who possessed great magic power. They were seen as special and were greatly loved the world's mana." Licht said as more swords of light rained down on them. "They could control the weather at will and could manipulate the minerals in the ground with ease. Their powers were almost god like."

Yami held a hardened face as Asta took a deep breath and yelled, **"Iron Shadow Dragon Roar!"** before jumping in front of Yami and blasting through more swords, aiming for Licht. The light magic user quickly dodged the attack before continuing his story.

"Those outside of their village came to see them as those of the Divine but then their feeling began to change, the respect and admiration the outsiders held for the villagers became fear and envy. And then, they slaughtered the gods of the village in a cowardly attack and stole their magic power for themselves." Licht said finishing his story.

"What the hell kind of story is that? Why why should we care?" Yami said as he and Asta ran towards Licht. "You plan on becoming a bard so you can share that story with music?"

'Why tell us this? Was he one of those divine people?' Asta thought, feeling a bit sad and sympathetic for those people in the story.

Asta and Yami closed the distance before Licht fired more light swords at them. Asta quickly turned into a shadow to avoid damage while Yami continued slicing through them as they both scaled the wall. The light attacks continued to fly as Yami gained a small smile.

"Well, since we sharing stories, I got one of my own to tell." Yami said before he begun his story. "There was once a young man with a kind heart and a bright mind. His dad was a fisherman, who sent him to work at sea at a young age."

As Yami begun story, he and Asta closed in on Licht, who suddenly appeared behind them. Licht held out his hand to fire an attack as Yami struck his sword in the cave wall, using his physical prowess to twist his body to dodge. Asta saw this as an opportunity to attack and took it.

 **"Iron Shadow Dragon Club!"** he said as he pulled the top half of his body out of his shadow form before letting a shadow covered iron column fly towards Licht, who dodged the attack by moving to the right.

"But one day, his boat suffered a crash and he fell into the sea before washing up on an unknown shore!" Yami continued as he removed his katana and tried to slash at Licht.

The Midnight leader dodged the slash as he flew backwards down the cave wall, firing more light swords as Asta, who reentered shadow form, and Yami, who kept slashing through light swords again, followed.

"Because he looked different and acted different, he got the crap kicked out of him nearly everyday." Yami continued as got close and slashed at Licht over and over.

Licht held an uninterested look as he listened to the story and dodged the attacks. Asta then rose behind Licht and threw a kick as Yami threw a sideways slash but both attacks were dodged as Licht suddenly jumped in the air.

"But that was fine. Because, he turned the table and kicked their asses before becoming a bad ass squad leader! The end!" Yami said as he jumped after Licht, who was about to fire a light sword at point blank rage.

Yami sliced through the attack as he fell and landed on the ground, with Asta soon joining him after exiting his shadow form. Licht soon appeared next to Valtos, who was watching the whole battle, as Yami stood straight, pulled his cigarette out, and let out a puff of smoke.

"Well, what do you think? I think it's a good story. Of course, it is about half my life though." Yami said, lazily staring at Licht and Valtos.

'That story wast it about you, captain? Wow.' Asta thought as he turned his pupiless eyes to Yami.

"Be quiet, you buffoon! I will not let you mock master Licht!" Valtos said, angry that Yami might be mocking his master.

"Woah, woah, woah! What's with your face?! What's the deal with the lines?!" Yami asked, a bit surprised and curious at Valots's strange face.

"Captain, I don't think this is the time for that!" Asta said in a bit of a high tone as he was a bit surprised by Yami's priorities.

Just then another light sword came flying at Yami, who planned on slicing through it like the others. But to his and Asta surprise, he only grazed it as a small formed on Yami's left shoulder.

'That's hit, it wasn't like the others.' Asta thought as Yami was thinking the same thing.

'He's getting serious, he's getting faster.' Yami thought as his mouth opened a bit.

"If it's true you are a foreigner, than my tale doesn't concern you." Licht said as dozens of light swords appeared around him. "Now, please, feel free to leave."

The swords then launched at Yami and Asta with greater speed than before, making it difficult for to slash through and endure them like before as Asta saw that cuts were forming on Yami's body.

"Captain Yami!" he let out as he raised his arms to protect his face against the swords, the shadow iron around him protected him but the attack still left marks and cuts on his clothes.

"Hmph. You both appeared to be preventing mortal blows but how much longer can you truly last?" Licht said as he smirked at their struggle struggle.

"Can I assume you're the guy who mess up Fuegoleon?" Yami asked, but did not get an answer from Licht.

"Grr! He must be, with the power he has, there's no doubt it was him!" Asta exclaimed, a bit mad about what happened to the Crimson Lion captain.

"You're right, both of you." Licht finally answered, not showing an ounce a regret on his smiling face. "I prepared for him with great care and he walked right into my trap without an struggle."

Asta's rage grew from that as Yami voiced his opinion.

"I see. Figured as much, these little toy darts wouldn't do anything to someone like him." Yami said as he sliced light sword after light sword before taking a step back.

Asta, thought he didn't see Yami's action, did the same thing and they both charged through the light swords to Licht.

 **"Iron Shadow Dragon Sword!"** Asta commanded her he created his iron and shadow sword.

They both began to knock away any sword in their way as they got in front of Licht. Yami started the fight with a downward swing but Licht dodged and created two light swords that were stronger that the others so he could fight at close range. Yami and Asta slashed at Licht with as faster and as stronger as they could but the man continued to dodged and parry with his light swords until he commanded another come flying from above and force the two back. Licht wasted no time and fire more light swords at them, causing Asta to go back into a shadow and Yami to run to the right, circling Licht as he slashed through the light swords as best as they could. Yami then jumped into the air as a light sword came into view, dodging it and diving towards Licht, were they exchange a quick close combat with their respective magic until Asta rose from the ground to strike Licht with his sword until the man disappeared once more.

"Grr!" Yami let out as he felt Licht appear behind him.

Turning on his feet, Yami and Licht engaged in another close combat situation that took them scaling up the cave wall. Once again, Licht vanished and showed Yami that he was close to hitting the ceiling that was riddled with stalactites but he wasn't nervous or worried as he just sliced through several and made them fall. From the ground, Asta had a feeling he knew what his captain was planning and quickly sped to meet Yami near the cave ceiling. Once he was there, Asta saw Yami strike one with his bare fist and break it into several chunks aiming towards Licht. The dragon slayer jumped from his shadow form and repeated the process by striking another with a shadow iron club. All the chunks seemed to have made contact as Asta and Yami landed on the cave floor, with the former falling to his knees afterwards since he was using all that he could to try and keep up with this fight but it seemed he was running out of steam.

'This isn't good. I'm not going to be able to last much longer if I don't refuel my magic power.' Asta thought as he attempted to reach for his pouch of nails.

His attempted were soon halted as seven columns of light flew into the air and aimed towards them. Before they could hit Yami grabbed Asta and dashed forward as impressive speed, avoiding the attack and saving his subordinate. When they were close, Yami slashed his sword downward to Licht, who dodged and let the ground that was below him take the devastating impact. Chunks of earth flew and Yami set Asta down.

"Now, **Dark Magic. Dark Cloaked...** " Yami said as he covered his katana in his magic.

As he prepared his spell, Licht appeared behind him and fire more light swords.

 **"Lightless Slash!"** he finished sending a thin yet powerful slash of dark magic to Licht.

The attack did more than enough as it not only cut through the light swords but also left a cut on Licht's left cheek that let out a bit of blood.

"Master Licht, no!" Valtos said in fright, seeing his master acutaly get hit was unexpected to him.

'He did it, Captain Yami landed a hit!' Asta thought as he saw the cut mark.

"Hm. I figured you used a trap, a guy like you couldn't win unless you played dirty." Yami said as he straightened himself.

"How dare you?!" Valtos let out.

Yami then held his katana in front of him and pointed as Licht.

"Quit dancing around like a fairy and face me head on! I'll show you what a Squad Captain is really capable of." Yami said as he glared at Licht. "Think you can handle it?


	34. Dark vs Light part 2: Power of Ki

**bulk Locke the the grim head: Yeah, Yami is pretty bad ass. And I kinda wanted to saw dragon force for a crucial moment.**

The room fell silent for a moment until Licht let out a short chuckle at Yami's challenge.

"Hey, kid. You did well to keep up in that fight." Yami said as he acknowledged Asta effort to aid him.

"Th-Thank you, sir." Asta let out between breaths as he was struggling to stay in **Iron Shadow Dragon mode.**

"Alright, now refuel. You're going in solo this time." Yami commanded, shocking Asta.

"What?! But Captain, you saw how I was only able to dodge and barely keep up. There's no way I could fight him by myself!" he complained until Yami appeared in front of him and grabbed his head.

"Really? Because last I checked, you can recharge you magic by eating your element and, more importantly, I'm still your captain." Yami said as he could he the iron on Asta head groaning. "So when I tell you to do something, you follow my orders or do you not want to become a real man on day, Shrimp-sta?"

"I do, sir! So can you please let go?!" Asta let out he reach for his pouch of nails.

While the two were having their captain and subordinate moment, Valtos was thinking of the battle the just happened before his eyes.

'This man, he was able to block nearly all of master's attack and even managed to injury him.' he thought as he grit his teeth. 'Could the Black Bulls Captain rival the power of the Wizard King himself?'

"Hmm. Fasinating, so this is the power of **Dark Magic.** " Licht said as he placed a hand on his cheek, his grimoire floating in front of him and turning a single page. **"Light Recovery Magic. Healing Light Particles."**

A bubble made of translucnet light soon appeared around Licht's upper half and began to heal his injury, which caused the blood to recede back into his cheek and the cut to close.

"Seriously? He can use recovery magic, too?!" Asta said as he was eating some iron nails.

"I haven't seen it as much myself, but apparently, people with large amounts of mana can wield all kinds of different magic." Yami said as the bubble around Licht disappeared. "And is even rarer that people with attack type magic can use healing magic, too."

As the bubble fully dispersed, more light swords appeared around Licht, signalling them that he was about to attack once more.

"But never mind that now, you refueled enough?" he asked as Asta swallowed one more nail before placing his pouch back in his pocket.

"Just enough but sir, I don't think I can pull this off. I just gave support before, taking him by myself is different." Asta said, as he felt he could maintain his iron shadow form a bit longer.

"I ain't talking about fight him head on. I'm talking about blocking his little darts, like this." Yami said as he turned his head to Asta while blocking more light swords without even looking forward.

"It's sounds easier than it seems, since I can't hit something that's to fast for me to see coming." Asta said back to Yami.

"Guess I've go no choice." Yami said as he blocked more while turning his head back to Licht. "For an easy explanation, I'll tell you for about 500 yule."

This made Asta jaw drop a bit as he thought, 'You're charging me to help me?!'

"The reason I've been able to respond to his attacks is because I've been able to pick up on something called 'Ki.'" Yami said as he continued to block and shatter light swords.

"Ki?" Asta asked. "So you were sensing his ki instead of his mana?"

"Yep. This is something that comes from my home country, by examining a person's traits, their glance, breathing, scent, muscle movement, and their presence, all together it makes up a person's living energy. Their ki." Yami began to explain. "From the start of the battle, I've been reading his ki and predicting what he's gonna do. You've never done anything like that before?"

"Uh, yeah. My magic heightens my senses and my instincts, so I've done it before." Asta said as he thought bakc to when he found Valtos in the invasion.

"That's my way of fighting, I combine the ability to sense ki with my magic power and my muscles." Yami said as he kept slicing through light swords and crouching his legs. "Just think of it as being a buff magical swords man!"

"Well, you've got the buff part down, especially with a neck as thick as your's." Asta commented.

"Yeah, well have you seen your own neck?" Yami asked while slicing through more swords.

As the Black Bulls conversed, Licht and Valtos just stood and watched with a feeling of slight insult.

"Such insolence, conversing so casually in the middle of battle. Do they take us for fools?!" Valtos said in a bit of anger.

"Never the less, that captain really is something. He's quick on his for someone who looks so sloppy." Licht said.

"While I agree, master, this disrespect must end. Please, allow me to step in and aid you." Valtos requested from his master.

Licht seemed to like that as he turned his hea and gave Valtos a kind smile with his eyes closes.

"That is an excellent idea, Valtos. I appreciate you eagerness." he said before turning back to Yami and Asta. "Very well, please deal with the boy, I still want him captured for his unique magic. And feel free to hurt him if necessary but not too much." he finished as he saw Asta was still admiring Yami's skill.

"Thank you, master." Valtos said as he raised his right hand and formed a ball of his magic.

Valtos then opened a small, black portal in front of him and opened it's exit behind Asta. He fired the shot and saw it exit the portal about to hit it's target but unknown to him, Asta's instincts alerted him of the shot and allowed him to quickly back hand and destroy it. This surprised Valtos and Yami as Asta let out a quick breath of relief.

"That was close, almost got me there." he said before he came to a sudden realization. "Di-Did I just use Ki?!"

"Yeah, you did. Guess your instincts are better than I thought." Yami said as he pointed to Valtos. "But you could use more practice, so try that again with the scarecrow over there."

Asta turned his gaze to Valtos and felt a bit nervous about facing him, his warps were no joke and what he could do with them was unknown.

"A-Alright, sir. I do my best!" Asta exclaimed as he brought his arms up to fight.

"Good." Yami said with a puff of smoke coming from his mouth. "And, you know, there's an old saying. 'Whatever happens, a warrior never goes back on his word' and I can tell you don't plan on doing that if you wanna become the Wizard King, right?"

Asta stared at him for a bit in slight shock before giving a slow nod.

"Well then, this is another point where you gotta push past your limits. Don't let your path end here, got it?" Yami said as he looked Asta dead in the eyes, showing that he supported Asta's dream.

Asta stared for a moment more before giving a smile to Yami and saying, "Yes sir!"

He got his legs bent to a degree and face Valtos with a stern face while thinking how to use ki again but this time on purpose.

'Okay, just relax and concentrate. Concentrate about how it felt the first time you used it and possible other times. You can do this.' he thought as he saw Valtos let out a sigh of annoyance.

"Do you truly think that you can detect my attacks so easily?" he said as he formed another ball of his magic. "Even if you could, you can't detect all of them."

As small portal formed in front of Valtos again with another one forming right above Asta, who flinched a bit and quickly turned on his feet.

"There!" he said as he threw his fist out, destroying the shot but a bit of it still hit his left leg. "Almost but not quite." he grunted in frustration, not in pain since he was still in **Iron Shadow Dragon mode.**

"Not good enough!" Yami said as he kicked Asta in the back, making him stumble a bit. "You can't just relay on your instincts, you gotta use all your senses! Doing only a part of the process is just gonna get you screw, got it?!" he said with a dark look of disappointment in his eyes.

"All my senses, huh?" Asta let out.

"Yeah, think of it as a space between intuition and prediction. Now do it right before I fight you instead." Yami said looked deathly at Asta.

'Again with the threats?' Asta thought before he refocused and going back into his stance, this time using all of his senses combined with his instincts to use ki. 'Alright let's try this again, focus. Focus on everything, my ears, my eyes, my nose. Use all of it and my instincts.'

He eyed Valtos for a moment before closing his eyes and focusing on evertyhing in his body, feeling the air around him, the scent in his nose, and the power burning inside him. What he saw inside himself was a dark void and a bright light shining inside before a sudden purple flame appeared around over the light and grew before fusing with the light in a blinding flash. Asta eyes shot open as he felt he was ready.

"Let's do this!" he said before using ki to sense an opening appear a good distance behind him, forcing him to turn around. "Not this time!"

He threw his right fist out and smashed through the blast with deadly accuracy, not having one bit of it scratching him afterwards. But Asta didn't stop their as he quickly threw his left fist out, transforming it into an iron column covered in shadows, and sending it back threw the portal Valtos made.

"NO!" He shouted before he was suddenly struck in the chest, letting a bit of bile fly out of his mouth as he was thrown back.

Time seemed to slow down for Licht as he watched in shock as another one of his comrade were hurt and defeated. As Valtos finally hit the ground, Asta let out a sigh of exhaustion as he exited his **Iron Shadow Dragon mode** , learning that using ki on purpose for the first time took more out of him than he thought but he had enough strength to keep his iron scales on.

"I did it. You see that, captain?" Asta said with a smile.

"Yeah, can't believe you actually did it, though. You really are a freak, huh?" Yami siad as he held his cigarette with a slightly shocked look on his face.

"You didn't think I could do it?!" Asta shouted as he was shocked by his captain's revealed doubt. "Then why try to motivate me?!"

As Asta was yelling at Yami, Licht continued to stare at his wounded comrade, who was currently having a bit of trouble breathing while grasping his chest a bit. The blunt force of the attack was so great, it was making Valtos feel like his chest caved in a bit.

"Valtos." Licht suddenly said, gaining a grim expression on his face once more as he turned to Asta and Yami. "You hurt Valtos, you hurt my friend."

Yami and Asta, who flinched a bit from the look, watched as Licht's grimoire turned one page once again.

"I shall no longer stand by and watch filthy humans such as you hurt my companions any longer." Licht said as his hair started to wave in the air a bit. "Your damage stops here and now."

"Seriously?" Asta said with sweat coming down his face. "What's his deal? If he wants to blame someone, he needs to blame himself."

His words were soon halted by a bright light shining in the cave. When his vision cleared a bit, he and Yami saw a single, extremely long line of light flowing around Licht, who was holding the end in his left hand, as if they were water.

"Now witness before your eyes, as this light moves with whip like motions and grace. Let's see if you can anticipate this attack." Licht said with pride.

The look alone of the attack nerved Asta and Yami as they light grew a bit bright from it.

"Did you know that long ago, any person who sinned would receive the punishment of whippings on the body? It was known as "Flogging" and I find this to be very suitable for sinners such as yourselves!" Licht said as he unleashed his attack. **"Light Magic! Light Whip of Judgement!"**

With glee in his voice and conviction in his heart, the long whip of light thrashed and snapped all over the area of the cave Asta and Yami were in, causing chunks of earth to fall from it and destruction to ensue. While this happened, Asta quickly from his sword with it's spikes spinning and he and Yami went to work deflecting the attack as best as they could. Watching before his eyes, Licht let out a joyous laugh and narrowed his eyes at the struggling knights.

"Don't bother struggling, it's pointless." he said as he continued to wave his whip, which was little effort on his part since he simply waved his arm up and down.

The light whip's destruction didn't cease as it destroyed the work place that ,the now deceased, Baro and, living, Neige used to drain the escaped children's magic, and more of the cave, soon to be caved in if the destruction didn't stop.

"This place is coming down!" Asta said as he looked up at the cave ceiling to see it crumbling.

"Ha ha ha ha!" Yami let on in a hearty laugh. "Yeah, this nut-job's not holding anything back!"

The joy in Yami voice soon disappeared as he and Asta heard and saw the stalactite on the ceiling begin to crack and fall, signalling the beginning of the cave in. The roof fell to the either in massive chunks as Asta and Yami stared in shock as the cave collapsed on them. To Licht's viewpoint, the large chunks of the cave crushed them and send it's rocky substance all over the cave with a giant hole in the ceiling to the still snow covered outskirt of Nean Village. The light of the sky signaled that it was day time as Licht retracted his whip of light.

"Gracious, it seems I got a little carried away." he said as he lowered his left hand. "Foolish humans, you just prove how weak you and your kingdom truly are." He continued as Valtos regained a steady breath and leaned up to see his master bathing in the light of a new day. "Just like you, the Clover Kingdom will fail."

"Marvolous work, master!" Valtos said as he gained a big smile at what Licht had just done. "Truly, only a god could wield such power. The Clover Kingdom's destruction is assured and it's knights would cower before you if they saw this feat alone!"

Before Valtos could compliment Licht any further, a sudden moment of the rubble caught their attention. The next moment took them both by surprise as Asta and Yami burst out of the it screaming with all their might.

"Impossible, they're alive?!" Valtos said as he quickly lost his smile.

Licht narrowed his eyes at them, silently feeling a bit annoyed at their resistance. It seems that these humans were harder to kill than he originally thought and if there were more like them, it would spell trouble for all his plans.


	35. Dark vs Light Part 3: Live or Die!

**bulk Locke the the grim head: I know, dude seriously needs to look in the mirror. And thanks.**

 **BanRedfox: Yeah, though it might not be much with his instincts, knowing Ki can still be useful.**

 **Guest 1: Interesting idea.**

 **Guest 2: Interesting look.**

In the remains of the large cavern where the battle took place, Licht, Valtos, Yami, and Asta were still on their opposing sides as they silently prepared for another round of fighting. The giant hole in the ceiling made by Licht still let in sunshine and a few bits of snow falling to make it look like sparkles were in the air.

"Ha ha ha ha! You kept that up, you'll be able to sense ki from nature itself." Yami said with a laugh after all the destruction Licht just caused, proud that Asta managed to survive the cave in like him. "Look like we don't have to worry about any rocks crushing you, kid!"

Licht an Valtos, who got up from the ground, stared silently as Yami congratulated Asta, who was shaking a bit from the adrenaline rush.

"That...was...awesome!" Asta said as he raised his right sword arm into the air. "I could get used to using ki!"

Valtos growled a bit as he said, "Such insolence, let's teach this fool a lesson."

Yami heard this and stepped forward with a smile, pointing his katana at them.

"Alright, let's do this! Time to take it up a notch and to start, let's take out that weird white haired guy with the stupid dots on his face!" he said.

"Again with his face?! But you do make a point, "Asta said as he turned to Licht and Valtos. "I'm feeling pumped and ready to take em on again. Let's go, Licht! This fight's not finished yet!"

"Whoa kid!" Yami said as he swung his sword in front of Asta. "If you wanna see what I can really do, that guy's mine. Besides, I still think he'd kill you even with your ki."

"Seriously?! Again with this?!" Asta shouted in shock, a bit sick of Yami's back and forth talk right now. "Can you stop with the whole backwards motivation?!"

"Nope! Now, go take on skinny, McLine face over there." Yami said before getting back into a battle ready position and summoning his dark magic, which leak out of him and make him look a demon. "Alright, this is gonna be fun! If been to long since I could really let loose!"

( **Sorry, skipping battle due to personal problems[College]. Same as anime.** )

As the battle raged on, Asta, who was still in his iron scales, did his best to try and withstand the shockwaves and wind kicking up.

'Amazing, so this is Captain Yami true power? Or is there even more?' Asta thought before he heard Yami ask some important questions to the Midnight Eye leader. 'He does have a grimoire, so he must be from here. But then why attack us if this is his home?'

His questions only continued as Licht explained how Yami saw things differently since he was never originally from the Clover Kingdom. How it was twisted with his ways of those who were pour and those who had too much, how the ranking of social status and magic power mean nothing, and the punishment of being born in some place different. Licht finished by saying that those very injustices were the reason he, and mostly likely his group, exist, to rectify those injustices.

"Okay, you got me real confused now." Yami said as he scratched his head. "It seems like your just doing the same thing they did to you and that's pretty dumb to me." he finished as he look up at Licht, who had his light whip flowing around him.

"No, you see it makes perfect sense. We are simply responding to the action of your kind." Licht retorted.

"Oh, I get it now, you wanna do things your way. I like that, reminds me of myself." Yami said as he closed his eyes before opening them again. "But, you really annoy the hell out of me!"

As the battle ignited once more, Asta could only watch with wide eyes as the gap in experience and power between him and Yami became so much more clear.

'This battle is unbelievable. This is Captain as his peak.' Asta thought as he saw Yami slash down at Licht. 'I've trained all of my life and even though I have magic now, it'll even more to surpass them. Captain, Yuno, and the Wizard King.' he thought as he watched the battle continue.

While Asta continued to watch, Valtos was also watching with his grimoire floating in front of him.

'He's actually keeping up with Master Licht? Incredible.' he thought before he formed a portal in front of him. "Master, allow me to give assistance!"

Just then a portal opened next to Yami but before Valtos could fire a magic blast through, Asta charged at him and slashed his iron sword at him. Valtos was able to dodge the attack but his portal soon disappeared due to his lose of focus. He figured that he wasted enough time standing around and it was time to fight, time to start catching up and surpass those sees as strong.

"I don't think so, you're fight is with me!" he said as he stood up and prepared to fight while thinking. 'No matter what, I'll become stronger and stronger until I reach my dream. Until I become the Wizard King!'

"Not bad, kid!" Yami said before he jumped off the wall and straight towards Licht. "Now finish him off in your own way!"

"Alright, let's do this!" Asta said before charging at Valtos.

"Annoying boy. You handled my last attack well but let's see you handle this." Valtos said as he created multiple black portal around him. **"Spacial Magic! Myriad Black!** Let's see you deflect all of these!"

As Asta kept charging multiple portal appeared around him and began firing magic blasts at him.

 **"Iron Dragon Kunai!"** Asta quickly shouted as he created multiple kunai in his left hand.

With a mighty roar, Asta began to slash through, deflect, and counter all the the shots with his sword and kunai as best as he could. Even with his iron scales protecting his body, he couldn't afford to be careless. The speed of the attack increased until Asta was forced to jump back and watch as an explosion appeared where he once was. He turn his head to gaze down his left side and see that a torn hole was in his shirt.

'One got past and torn my shirt.' he thought until he turned his attention back to Valtos.

"I can do this all day but can you? You require more movement than I, so it's only a matter of time before you're took weak to fight or even stand." Valtos said before launching his attack again.

Asta moved quickly and slashed or countered more and more of Valtos's attacks before closing the distance between them. Stopping as his left pants leg as sizzling a bit, showing that another shot had gotten past his defense.

"You have sin and defiled in Master Licht presence and you must attone!" Valtos said before he fired more of his magic blasts.

Asta went back to slashing and countering the blast with his sword and kunai while thinking of a way to end this before his body and magic run out of energy.

'Alright, think. I gotta remain calm and do this my way.' he thought before an idea came to mind, a crazy idea that just might work if he timed it just right.

Asta then canceled all three of his spells, causing his iron scales, sword, and kunai to disappear and left himself wide open.

"You're canceling you spells? Have you gone mad?!" Valtos said as he watched before gaining a smile and ignoring it. "It that is you wish so be it, I'll finish you with this final strike!"

Valtos formed a magic blast in his right hand and opened a spacial portal in front of him. In that moment, a single drop of sweat fell from Asta's chin before falling to the ground like a raindrop in the ocean, a spacial portal opened behind Asta and that was the moment to strike.

"GGGRRRAAAHHHHHH!" Asta roared as he swiftly pivoted on his feet and shot into the air, destroying the ground below him when he jumped.

 **"Iron Dragon!"** he shouted before entering the spacial portal, shocking Valtos when he saw Asta coming out his end.

'He dove in?!' was all he could thinkg before feeling Asta's magic power rise and build in his glowing, right fist.

 **"Hard Fist!"** Asta finished before slamming his fist into Valtos's face, breaking his nose before sending the man flying like a speeding bullet.

Asta landed on his feet as he saw Valtos crash into the cave wall and kick up a cloud of dust with a few rocks falling to the ground. Suddenly, Yami let out a hardy laugh as he watched what just happened.

"I gotta say, that was one hell of a punch!" Yami said with a smile on his face. "You are a funny one, kid!"

As Yami laughed a bit more, Licht suddenly appeared behind him with a light whip in hand.

"You're wide open!" he siad before he swung his whip at Yami, who turned around with a focus look on his face.

Suddenly a small hole of darkness appeared on Yami's right side after he swung his sword.

"You sure?" he asked as the light whip was sucked in and started to turn black like the small hole.

'That move, it absorbed my attack.' Licht thought as he tried to move away but couldn't. 'And my body, it's not responding.'

As Licht stayed motionless and floating in the air, Yami used this opportunityy to deliver a devastating strike.

"From **Dark Magic! Black** **Hole!** " Yami began as he swung his sword in a circular motion to put it above his head, grasping the handle with both hands. "To **Dark Magic! Dark Cloak: Black Blade."** Yami finished as a large pillar of dark magic rose from his sword.

In one swift move, Yami swung his sword and struck the motionless Licht, causing a large cut to appear on his right side and blood to gush out of his shoulder. The pain must've been excruciating as Licht's pupils dilated on his motionless face. After a few seconds, the small black hole was gone and Licht had his motion back once more.

"Sir." Asta said in surprise after witnessing an amazing combo, he was so amazed that he lost balance a bit and fell to his right knee.

"Ha, looks like you fell, kid." Yami let out as he turned to Asta.

As he did that, Licht floated down to the ground and away still in a bit of pain from Yami's impressive strategy.

"That was quite the spell." he said while breathing heavily through his nose, while thinking, 'The range of his **Black Hole** is only about 5 meters, but with it's additional affects of absorbing my magic and halting my movements. His magic truly is incredible, just as much as my **Light Magic.** '

"Your **Dark Magic** is an incredible attribute to wield and on top of that, it's in direct opposition to my **Light Magic.** " Licht said as he landed on the ground. "And because of that, the speed of your magic pales in comparison to mine. To compensate that weakness, you cloak your sword in **Dark Magic** and patch the gaps with **Reinforcement Magic**."

As Licht finished his diagnosis, Yami pulled out a cigarette and match from his pocket before placed the former in his mouth then lighting it with a match. He exhaled some smoke before pointing to Licht with his left hand.

"Nice work pal. That was spot on." he said, complimenting Licht for his smarts.

"That's what you say?!" Asta shouted in disbelief for the unknown amount of time since Yami arrived.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Yami asked Licht, who stood away from him. "Hurry up and use your recovery magic so we can duke it out again. But, of course, when you're finished I'm gonna jam my sword in your chest, so I guess you're right not to heal." Yami finished, holding up his darkness covered sword to emphasize his point.

"I will admit, that might be a possibility." Licht said as his calm yet battered face was unchanged. "You are, without a doubt, the second one with enough power to defeat me I've ever face. But alas, I don't have anymore time to let slip away while I stay here and trifle." he finished as his grimoire slowly flipped a few pages.

This caught Yami's interest as he spoke to get an answer.

"Hang on minute, what exactly do you mean by I'm the second?" he asked.

"I'm speaking of the one before you, the man who wounded my arm so greatly, it shall never recover." Licht explained as he held up his right, gloved covered hand. "That man is the current Wizard King, Julius Novachrono, and he is without a doubt my greatest foe."

Asta stood gapping, amazed by Licht's acknowledgement and shocked that the Wizard King has fought Licht before.

'But when did they- Wait! Back at that hide out, that's must've been where Licht got his arm injured!' Asta thought as he recalled first seeing Licht with Julius, now realizing that the Wizard King must've tried to stop him and Asta couldn't see it happen because of Licht's bright light and Julius **Time Magic.**

"There is no escaping this spell, it's power and range at too much for your's to absorb such as before." Licht said as a ball of shinned in his hands over his grimoire. "There is no escaping your doom, for this moment will be your last in this world. Goodbye, captain of the Black Bulls.

"No way, that magic power! It's like nothing compared to his earlier attacks!" Asta said as he joined Yami at his left and let a few drops of sweat fall.

"Yeah, that's some nasty magic." Yami said as he took his cigarette out his mouth and blew some smoke.

"And you too shall be punished, young man. You have hurt one of my allies for the last time and if you body is salvageable, I'll be taking it back so Sally can remove that magic of your's." Licht said to Asta.

As Licht kept charging up his attack, Yami tried to think o a way to counter it.

'Since he's got a four leaf clover grimoire, his magic power must be off the charts. The only way to at least survive this is to try and surprise him somehow but what to do?' Yami thought with focus before his eyes turned blank. 'Eh, it's future Yami's problem.' he tossed aside, not realizing he and Asta were possibly about to die!

The light attack grew brighter as Licht floated into the air above them with his attack ready.

"Your wait is offer and you end is near!" Licht said as he watched them with a small smile.

 **"Black Magic."** Yami said as his grimoire turned a few pages and finally coming up with a plan. **"Black Cocoon."**

A shroud of dark magic grew from under Yami and pulled itself over him and Asta to form a sphere of darkness.

"Do you think this spell will be enough?" ASta asked as he looked at the walls of the cocoon.

"I don't think so, but it'll give us enough time to come up with a plan. Though, I think we're still gonna die." Yami said as he held his usual stoic like look.

"DIE?! And you're just gonna accept that?!" Asta shouted before he shook his head. "No way, I refuse to die here! There's gotta be a way to stop or survive that spell!"

"You can try and find a way but the only thing that'll be left is you ashes." Yami said, diminishing Asta's efforts.

"Come on! What about pushing past our limit and not giving?! This is the perfect time to be doing that!" Asta said, trying to get Yami to agree with him and help him find a way to survive.

"Hmm, yeah I guess. We could try that." Yami replied before thinking, 'This is bad, we cornered like rats and there's no way out.'

Yami had a feeling things would end like this for him, he just didn't expect it to be sooner than he liked but life is full of surprises and you can't help but accept them.

"Alright, kid. Grit your teeh and dig in your heels, That's all we can do, now." Yami said, accepting his fate.

Asta was about to yell at him again before an idea came to mind from a memory, more specifically the memory off when he, Luck, and Noelle went to the dungeon between the Clover and Diamond Kingdoms. He turned his head to the cocoon wall and save the darkness moving, like the shadows in the orb he smashed.

"Could that work like when I eat iron? Technically, I can recharge by eating my element, but shadow wasn't my original element." Asta thought out loud.

"Enjoy your last breath. Yami Sukehiro." Licht said before he launched his spell. **"Engaging Light Magic. Ray of Divine Punishment."**

The ball of light grew larger, enough to engulf Licht before firing a powerful beam of light at the cocoon but before it struck, a mirrior appeared in front of the cocoon and Gauche, who was able to return thanks to a waiting Finral in the background, soon followed, surprising Licht.

"He came back?" Licht asked himself before Gauche raised his hair to show his mirror eye.

 **"Mirror Magic! Full Reflection!"** Gauche commanded before he held out both hands and transformed his mirror into a larger, rectangular one.

The light attack struck the mirror but instead of destroying it, Licht's attack was turned right back at him, shocking him that he wasn't able to dodge in time. The blast was so powerful, it broke through the cave ceiling and created another giant hole before rocketing into the sky. The beam was seen for miles around before it slowly died down and vanished. Back in the cave, Yami and Asta were thankful for Gauche's sudden appearance and amazed by his Mirror Magic.

'Whoa!' Asta thought while Yami smirked.

"It doesn't matter if you magic is powerful and fast but it can never beat my magic because mirrors will always reflect light!" Gauche said as he watched a wound covered Licht fall to the ground with a crash.


	36. 3 Eyes, 3 Monsters

**bulk Locke the the grim head: Yeah but I guess even in a world of magic, some science still exists.**

 **BanRedfox: Yeah but I feel he should be more serious in certain situations.**

Everything in the cave grew still as Licht laid injured upon the ground with is grimoire laying to the right of his head. Gauche was currently breathing heavily and holding a hand near his left, mirror eye with a little blood on his cheek, exhausted from the sudden use of a lot of magic power.

"Wow, nice job, Gauche. You saved them." Finral said as he was sweating before hand due to fear.

The dark magic cocoon that surrounded Yami and Asta receded and showed the two were still in the same condition before the attack, a few scratches here and there from before Gauche returned but still alive.

"Whoa! We're still alive!" Asta said as he looked over his body. "But how?" he asked before turning to see Gauche standing in front of him and Yami.

"My, my Mirror Magic reflected his attack. It was too bright to see if it hit but there's no way he could've dodge it." Gauche said between breathes.

After he was done explaining, Yami walked towards him with a his usual laugh and ruffled Gauche's hair.

"Good to see you drag your scrawny ass back with a fancy spell to save our butts!" he said before laughing some more.

"Captain Yami," Gauche said suddenly. "It was because of you I came back, you made me who I am and I'm grateful for that. I owe you everything."

Yami was silently proud of Gauche but hide it with his usual "Yami-ness."

"Oh, is that so? Then you can repay me by letting me take credit for beating the light mage, huh?" Yami said while shaking Gauche's head a bit and laughing some more.

"What kind of sense is that?! You were ready to die while I was trying to find a way not to!" Asta shouted, not feeling Yami deserved the credit. "Gauche saved us and beat him, so he should keep the credit!"

Yami didn't like Asta's logic and complaints and quickly did what he usually does, crush Asta head a bit in his hand.

"Quiet!" Yami said while Asta screamed a bit.

'Of all the times to be low on power!' Asta thought as held the hand, silently needing to eat what little iron nails he had left to regain his power.

"You think just because you beat weird face you can mouth off to your superior?" Yami said as he squeezed harder, causing Asta to bite his teeth to keep from screaming in pain.

"Hey, hey, let's calm down now. The important thing is that everybody gave their all, right?" Finral said, walking to them and trying to keep the situation calm with his hands up. "There's no need to fight among ourselves."

"Really?" Yami, who still holding Asta, and Gauche said as they turned to him. "And what exactly did you do?"

"EXCUSE ME?! I was the one who broght you guys here with my **Spacial Magic!** " Finral replied to show he did contribute something.

"Who cares? Now send me back to Marie." Gauche said, remembering his sister, and to some extend Sister Theresa who was being heal back at Nean Village.

"Okay, that it! May I remind you that I am you superior?!" Finral said, trying to get SOME respect from Gauche like he did before they came back to the cave.

Said mage ignored that and turned to the sky with his arms to the side.

"Well, Marie? Your big brother did good and soon, you'll be hugging me tight as thanks for saving the day. Sweet Marie." he said to himself as he hugged himself, get the usual nose bleed. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go." he finished going back to being disrespectful.

Finral juts stared at him and said, "Again, I am your superior and don't you remember what I said before we left? I only had enough for one more trip and this was it So we can't leave until my magic power has recovered." he finished with closed eyes.

Yami and Gauche turned their back to him and gave a "Chuh!" from their teeth.

"Don't 'Chuh!' me!" Finral said.

"My little angel must never be kept waiting." Gauche said.

"Here I thought you would've become more useful but no." Yami said.

"Okay, now you're just being mean." Finral said as he saw Yami released his grip on Asta's head.

"Ah my head!" Asta said as he fell to his behind and clenched it, massaging it to try and sooth the pain.

While he was doing that Yami and Gauche made their way to the down Licht, who hadn't moved an inch since his own attack was turned on him.

"Welp, so much for that mega spell of yours, line face. Guess your magic has more than one natural enemy." Yami said as he saw Asta and Finral join them. "Better luck next time."

Licht, with all the strength he could muster, lifted his head to them and stared at Gauche, who made him flash back to an old friend, one of the divine people who were slaughtered. He looked exactly like Gauche but with spikey, white hair and pointy ears.

"I'm sorry. I should've have tried to hurt you." he said, not knowing that Gauche wasn't his friend.

"Me? What do you mean?" Gauche asked, confused on the sudden and unnecessary apology.

"You guys are friends? Now I feel bad about beating him so bad." Yami said as he turned his head to his right to face Gauche.

"No, I don't know him. I've never seen this monster before until today." Gauche said back to his captain.

"Don't worry, you'll understand one day." Licht let out before putting his head back on the ground, staring at the sky.

"What?" Gauche said in confusion.

"I don't think I'll ever understand you or you little possee but we're gonna be hauling you back to head quarters for questioning." Yami said as held his grimoire in his left hand. "You can tell us all about your little club when we're there. And finally, the fire king of seriousness has been avenged." he continued, thinking of Fuegoleon ascending to heaven before clapping his hands together and shutting his eyes. "Rest in piece, buddy. You've earned it."

"Hey, he's not dead yet, sir!" Asta said, a little offended that Yami would just assume someone as strong as Fuegoleon would die without a fight in his coma.

"Do we have to worry about every little detail?" Yami said as he turned his head to his left to look back at Asta.

"How is it little?" Asta asked before remembering he still needed to refuel and reached for his nail pouch, eating the third of the bag that was left.

Yami turned his head back to Licht and let his grimoire float in front of his, scrolling through it to find the right spell for this situtation.

"Okay, let's see. I know I have a binding spell in here somewhere. Now, where was it?" Yami said before the grimoire stopped on the right page. "Found it. Alright, **Dark Restraints,** do your thing."

From Yami's grimoire, came what appeared to be tentacles of darkness that made their way to Licht and wrapped around his arms and chest. A few minutes later, Licht and Valtos, who was dragged over by Asta, were prompted up against large chunks of the cave with 3 lines of dark magic restraints wrapped around them and for extra measure, Asta made both of them an **Iron Dragon Cage** to hold them. Not to far from them, Finral, Yami, Gauche, and Asta were sitting on some chunks of rocks and were waiting for Finral to recharge his magic so they could use his portals to get back Nean Village, so Gauche could see Marie and they could pick up Noelle, and Licht and Valtos to headquarters for questioning but unfortunately the wait was rather long and boring as Yami let out a yawn.

"Can we get out of here already? Are you done yet?" he asked impatiently as he turned to his right to see Finral staring back at him.

"Like I said before, no. I still need a bit more time for my power to regenerate." Finral replied, earning another simultaneous "Chuh!" from Yami and Gauche. "Again with that?!"

"Chuh! You don't like that? Chuh! Chuh! Well have some more." Yami said wit his arms on his lap, still doing the thing that annoys Finral. "Who cares if it gets to you?"

"Well, I do." Finral complained.

"If you want it to stop, then take me back to Marie." Gauche said as he turned his eye to Finral.

"Sorry but I didn't get any extra magic before we left like you did." Finral complained once more, remembering when he was given some magic power by Marie, Sister Theresa, and others before they returned to help.

"But if we stay longer, my reunion with Marie will be much more joyous." Gauche said as he got a nose bleed again. "Just like before, in the past."

Asta, who was thinking of new attacks and weapons to use with his magic, turned to Gauche with curiosity.

"What do you mean 'in the past?'" he asked.

"I shall tell you nothing that's related to Marie." Gauche said, bringing the sister protection back to a 20.

"What? But-" Asta said until Gauche interrupted him.

"All who approach my sister is an enemy." he said with the usual craziness on the subject of his sister.

"Really?" Asta said with sweat coming down his head until he heard to sound of a stomach rumbling, Yami's stomach to be exact.

"Damn, I'm starving over here. Can't you at least portal us some breakfast?" Yami groaned as he stared down at his stomach.

"I am not a deliver or food service." Finral said, earning another "Chuh!" from Yami until they all felt something, a sudden rise in magic power.

They turned their attention towards a part of the cavern a good distance from them and stood up to prepare for it.

"You guys fell that, too?" Asta asked them.

"Yeah, a lot of mana and it's coming fast." Yami commented.

Everyone was on their toes as they saw one of Valtos' warps open from thin air and out came 3 people, two males and one female. The male in the middle of the trio was very muscular man, with long blond hair and a red tattoo that moves horizontally across his face under his eyes and over the bridge of his nose. His appearance was beast-like and he ha sharp teeth and a blond beard. The second male on the first one's left side had red tattoo on his left cheek and patches of white hair in his messy black hair. He head lazy looking eyes ad had his robe open to show his weird looking clothes. And finally, the woman had thick, wavy, pink hair that falls just below her shoulders, large sea-green eyes, and a purple, multi-faceted gem that is framed by a red tattoo on her forehead. She was wearing a high collared, furry maroon dress beneath the same light hooded robe the rest of the Midnight Sun members wear with open-toed, knee-high boots. She also had a pouch with her that is strapped around her shoulder.

When these 3 appeared in before the Black Bulls, Licht gained a small smirk on his face as he knew how power these 3 were as the Black Bulls grew a bit worried at their sudden appearance.

"Who are these guys?" Finral wondered but knew the answer.

"More member of Licht's club." Yami said as he stared them down.

"They got here with **Spacial Magic** but Valtos is still out cold." Asta said as he turned to the tied up man in his iron cage. "So how did they get here?"

His question was answered by nothing but a yawn as the man with brown and white hair put a hand over his mouth.

"Uh oh, looks like something didn't go right here." he said as he looked around. "And it appears that Licht and Valtty didn't win the battle that destroyed this place. This is gonna be a pain to clean but still, you gotta help your friends right?" he finished with a yawn and a smile before moving as fast as Licht to appear in front of Yami!

"Huh." he let out as he placed left hand on Yami's grimoire and drags is across the cover. "Unique design but I suppose it doesn't matter."

Yami was surprised a bit as he reach for his katana. 'So he moves fast, too?' he thought as he attack.

 **"Dark Magic. Dark Cloak: Lightless Slash!"** Yami said as he drew his sword and slashed a wave of his magic, but the man who touch his grimoire quickly jumped out of the way to avoid it except for the small cut on his right arm.

"Ow! What a pain, literally?" he said as he land near Licht with the other two already there. "But no matter, I can heal it up real quick. **Light Magic. Healing Light Particles.** " he finished as he placed his left hand over the cut, summoning some light to fix the cut.

"That spell, it's the same as Licht's." Asta mumbled as he noticed. "He can heal too."

Meanwhile with Licht, he was currently being look after by the woman while the beastly man stood guard.

"Thank you, my friends. It seems my power alone wasn't enough for this." Licht said as the woman stared blankly at him.

"You're in pain. How bad is it?" she asked.

"I'm fine now that you all are here." Licht said as the woman stood up from her kneeling position in front of Licht.

"Yes, everything will be fine now." she said as she brought out he grimoire, which appeared to be stitched together like the one that belonged to the mage from the Diamond Kingdom, Mars! **"Now, Flame Recover Magic. Phoenix Robe."**

Licht was then dress in a red glow, one that destroyed his **Dark Restraints** and casing the iron cage to melt around him, before he was lifted into the air and covered in flames, healing his injuries.

"I'm positive you shall achieve victory where I have failed, my friends. Thank you." he said as he looked down to his 3 allies.

"Wait a second, wasn't this guys suppose to be their leader?" Gauche said as he and the others watched Licht, who sighed in peace, slowly heal.

The man with white in his brown hair yawn before saying, You see, Licht? Doing everything on your own is just too much work."

"Gggrrr! You damn insects, do you know what happens to people who harm our friends?" the beast like man growled. "You'll known because when I get my hands on you, your limbs will be as easily torn off as a butterfly's wings."

"I am disgusted by anyone who hurts Licht. You disgust me." the woman said with the same blank face.

"Okay, can someone tell me who you people are already?" Asta asked as Finral, Yami, and Gauche were on edge and wanted to know the same thing.

"Allow me to introduce you." Licht said from within the healing flames. "These 3 friends of mine are the strongest members of the Midnight Sun."

"UH! They're the strongest ones?!" Asta said in shock but wasn't that surprised due to their massive magic power.

"Yes, their power surpassed mine, especially when in the terms of battle. They are the Third Eye." Licht said as the Third Eye glared at the Black Bulls.

"So they're more powerful than you?" Gauche asked.

"The Third Eye, huh? Weird name." Yami said as he stared at them.

"No way. Stronger than a user of **Light Magic?** He has to be joking, right?" Finral asked in worry even with the usual smile on his face.

"Why bother?" the brown and white haired man said with a yawn. "Bluffing's a pain, so why do at at?"

"While your kingdom takes the clover, a 3 leaf, as it's name, it never considered what the leaves mean did it?" Licht said, beginning a strange explanation. "Each leaf represents an ideal, none that your kingdom has even embraced. The first stands for integrity, the second stands for hope, and the third stand for love. Such beautiful words but my friends bare names of the exact opposite meaning. Opposing to integrity, is Rhya the Disloyal."

The man with brown and white hair yawned at this but it was enough to tell them that he was Rhya.

"The opposite of hope is Vetto the Despair." Licht said as the beast like man grinned his sharp teeth at them while cracking his right knuckles repeatedly.

"Hehehehe." Vetto let out.

"And finally, the one opposing to love is Fana the Hateful." Licht said as the woman, Fana, kept staring at the bulls with the same blank look.

"Anyone who harms Licht, shall die. They will die." she said in an almost hypnotic tone of voice.

"Disloyalty, despair, and hatred." Finral said as he frown at them while Gauche grit his teeth a bit.

"Well, congrats on the fancy shmancy name you got." Yami said as held his cigarette in hand." But, they don't tell me a damn thing about your worth in a fight."

"Well, I guess actions speak louder than words, don't they?" Rhya said as suddenly held up a katana cloaked in darkness, like Yami's! "Lame."

Yami growled at this while Finral gasped in shock.

"Impossible." Gauche let out while Asta stared at it.

"That's Captain Yami's sword!" he said as Rhya moved at Licht speed and appeared a few away from them.

 **"Copy Magic. Dark Cloak: Lightless Slash."** he said as he launched a horizontal slash at them.

"I get why your name is "Disloyal" now! You steal other people's spells, not cool man!" Yami said as he prepared his katana. "I'm gonna sue your ass for copy right infringement!" he then launched a vertical slash at the one Rhya launched, causing both slashes to destroy themselves.

"Look out, guys" Finral shouted as he saw Vetto with wild flowing, green magic around his hands suddenly appear above him.

"Watch where you're looking! **Beast Magic! Bear Claw!** " he shouted before he brought both his hands down.

 **"Iron Dragon Scales!"** Asta shouted as he quickly moved in front of Finral and covered his body in iron scales, crossing his arms as the attack crashed into him.

A cloud of dust kicked up and the ground below them exploding as Finral and Gauche jumped back while Asta soon joining them as he skid back and smashed his fists together.

'Damn! My magic is too low to fight!' Gauche thought as he, Finral, and Asta saw Vetto charge at them from the cloud.

"Maggots!" he shouted.

"GAH!" Finra let out in fear until Asta charged towards Vetto.

"Bring it!" Asta said as he reeled his fist back.

Before the two could clash once more, Yami came charging in and attempted to slice Vetto but the beast man appeared to be fast enough to dodge the attack!

"He dodge it?!" Asta commented as he stopped next to Yami.

'Can he sense ki, too?' Yami wondered as Vetto landed and charged at him and Asta.

Yami launched another slash but Vetto dodged it but jumping into the air and bringing his claws down to slice them, which resulted in Asta blocking with his arms and Yami blocking with his sword. The 3 were pushed back with skids as Vetto was getting ready to attack again.

 **"Beast Magic! Bear Claw!"** he shouted before he charged and started slashing back and forth between them with a laugh.

The attacks were blocked perfectly until Yami katana was snapped near the base and Asta scales cracked a bit. Both bulls jumped back in front of Gauche and Finral in crouching positions as the broken top of Yami's sword stuck itself in the ground.

'This creep is tough, he was able to crack my scales in only a few swings.' Asta said as he used some magic to fix the crack.

"I can't wait to see the look of despair on your faces when you hope shrivels away!" Vetto said with his crazed, sharped toothed smile. "A meal is nothing without the perfect side of bottomless misery!"

"Hey, you jerk! This katana was special ordered and expensive!" Yami shouted as he pointed to his destroyed katana, only a knife sized portion left. "You better be ready to pay for this!"

This response left Finral mouth to hang open until he closed his eyes and said, "Really, sir?"

'Why?' Asta thought until he noticed something.

"GGRRR! Haven't even finished paying it off yet. Damn!" Yami said with looking at his broken sword until...

 **"Iron Dragon Roar!"** shouted Asta as he jumped in front of Yami, who looked up from his blade and saw a giant blast of fire coming towards them!

The two blasts clashed for a moment until the fire blast overwhelmed the iron and consumed the Black Bulls in a massive flame. The stream of flames soon stopped and revealed the source to be Fana with a strange looking red reptile with wings on her left shoulder.

"Loathsome filth, abhorrent garbage. You must die." she said as she watched her flames die down to reveal the Black Bulls were protected by Yami's **Dark Cocoon** spell but there were a few openings for them to see.

'What is that? A dragon?!' Asta thought, curious to the fire breathing creature Fana just used.

"That's a salamander and from the looks of it, she's uses **Spirit Magic.** " Yami said, answering Asta's question about the small beast.

'Spirit Magic?!' Asta thought in shock as he recalled seeing a small female like creature with wings floating next to Yuno. 'Like Yuno?!'

"Hey, you're name is Fana the Hateful right? Not to judge, but I think that personality of your's could use some work." Yami said as he had a bit of blood on his bottom lip and a red burn mark on his left arm, which he looked at. 'That salamander might no be full grown yet, but it's still an impressive spirit of fire.'

As Yami thought this Rhya let out another yawn before turning to his enemies.

"Let's ends, okay?" he said as his companions got ready.

"Any final words?" Vetto let out with a growl.

"You hurt our dear friend. And we shall repay that pains times 100." Fana said as the **Salamander Spirit** on her shoulder growled.

An opening in Yami's **Dark Cocoon** opened and the man himslef walked out.

"You three stay inside, got it?" he said before the opening began to close.

"Captain!" Asta said as he jumped out before the opening could close completely.

"HEY! I thought I told you to say inside!" Yami shouted as he saw Asta stand up next to him.

"I couldn't just let you take them all by yourself, sir!" Asta said as he stood ready. "Even if they still outnumber us, we stand a better chance this way!"

"Chuh! Fine but when we get back, you're in magic trouble!" Yami said as he turned back to the Third Eye and held what was left of his katana with both hands.

Rhya held his copy katana back before moving at light speed and appearing in the air.

"Here we go!" he said as he launched multiple dark magic slashes at Asta and Yami.

Yami took the front and counted as many as he could with his broken katana as Vetto eyed them like a predator. He let out a small roar before charging at them with his **Bear Claw** spell ready. Asta quickly intercepted his charge and clashed with his claws using iron clubs but Vetto appeared to be faster the he seemed as Asta was taking slashes around his body, if not for his scales protecting him then he'd be losing a bit of blood.

"Don't be shy." Fana said to her Salamander Spirit as she pet it. "Incinerate them."

"You're both keeping up pretty well, but how much longer can you two last?" Rhya said as he launched another slash at Yami, who countered with his own.

"Just give up!" Vetto said as he slashed at Asta, causing his right hand club to crack.

"Never!" Asta replied as the threw his left, clashing with Vetto's right claw.

Using both Ki, his physical strength, and his instincts, Asta was able to pick up the pace and almost match Vetto in speed and counter his attacks as the two were almost blurs in their furious clash.

As Asta and Vetto continued their dance to the death, the young dragon slayer could see Yami getting some cuts from slashes he could fully block.

"Captain Yami!" Asta said as he wanted to go help but was cut off by Vetto and his beast like grin.

Asta wasn't the only one to notice as Finral and Gauche were able to see it through the opening in the **Dark Cocoon.**

'He can't fight with everything he's got since he's protecting us.' Finral thought with sweat going down his forehead. 'And I still don't have enough mana to use my **Spacial Magic**.'

Gauche grit his teeth in frustration as he saw the sheer strength that the Third Eye possessed was leagues above their own.

'These guys are monsters.' he thought as he couldn't do anything but watch.

As the worried thoughts continued, Asta dispelled his clubs and grabbed Vetto's hands, forcing them into a deadlock.

"Sir!" Asta let out as he turn his gaze to Yami for a second.

"Worry about your own fight, kid!" Yami said as he continued to focus on Rhya. "And quit worrying about me, it's about a billion years too early for something like that! But be sure to pay attention, cause I'm about to push past my limits!" Yami finished with a smile on his face.

Asta quickly put his worries aside as he turned back to Vetto and put his full attention in to the deadlock while Licht, who was still healing in the flames, watched in amusement.

"My my. I didn't expect such resistance but in the end, you will fall." Licht said with confidence. "Because, every member of the Third Eye is far stronger than any Magic Knights Captain."

It was then Vetto broke the deadlock with Asta and retreated back with Rhya landing next to him. Asta soon landed next to Yami and stood ready for anything.

"Now, let's get this done and over with." Rhya said with the same lazy look on his face.

Vetto let out a quick "Huh" while Fana continued petting her **Spirit Salamander** , which looked ready to burn the Black Bulls to a crisp.

"Die. **Spirit Magic. Salamander's Breath.** " she said as the salamander started pulsing with magic towards it's mouth, unleashing a giant blast of fire.

Rhya and Vetto soon followed with dark magic slashes and a flying claw attack, all aimed towards Asta, Yami, and the Dark Cocoon that held Finral and Gauche.

"Captain!" Gauche shouted.

"Asta!" Finral shouted.

The attacks soon neared them but were soon countered by 3 new attacks from an unknown source. Briar vines with blue roses, arrows of mercury, and green slashes flew and destroyed the Third Eye attack, surprising Rhya, Vetto, and Fana in the process.

"Whoa." Asta let out.

"How?" Gauche questioned.

"What in the?" Finral said.

Even Licht himself was surprised as he lost his smile and gazed to who were the newest additions to this battle. The smoke began to clear and reveal some familiar faces to the Black Bulls, who were stunned to see who they were. Charlotte Roselei with a sword handle in hand and magic briars surrounding her, Nozel Silva with magic mercury floating around him, and a man with a black hair and a scar across the left of his face had large green blades protruding g from his arms.

"You're having too much fun with out us, Yami. You should learn to share more often!" the scarred man said as he gazed upon the Third Eye. "So, you all are stronger than a Magic Knight captain, huh? Let's see!" he finished as he raises and licked the blade on his right arm.

"Uh, just when I was about to awaken or something." Yami said as he sat down against a boulder like it was a chair and using a smaller one like an arm rest. "So, what brings you guys here, my mighty and fellow captains?"

Nozel turned his gaze to Yami and replied, "I would think someone of your position would speak with greater care. Either watch where you trend or I will see you behead, foreigner. That I swear." he finished as he turned back to the Third Eye.

"Man, what's up with your hair? I can't take you seriously when you look like that." Yami said as he did his usual thing and ignored the threat.

"How pitiful. You couldn't handle a few measly enemies without us?" Charlotte said with her eyes closed.

"Can't you cut me some slack? It was three on one." Yami said in the usual tone of voice.

While they continued to speak, Gauche, Finral, and Asta stared at them in silence until Asta broke it.

"Wow." he let out.

"3 captains?" Finral let out from his hanging mouth.

"Who are they exactly?" Gauche asked, not really caring either way.

This caused Finral and Asta to turn to him in shock, as they were pretty well known and powerful to be captains.

"Please tell me your kidding. They're Magic Knight captains." Finral said to the cluelss mirror mage.

"I know at least who two of them are, man." Asta said to Gauche, remembering from them from the service ceremony.

"Meh." Gauche let out, still not caring.

"Are you interested in anyone or anything besides your sister?" Finral asked, not hoping for what was about to come.

"No." Gauce said as he closed his eye.

"You really need help with this thing with your sister." Finral said with a bit concern in his voice before turning to the three captains. "The guy with the blades on his arms is captain of the Green Praying Mantises. His name is Jack the Ripper and he uses **Severing Magic.** He's a super sadist that loves to tear things apart."

The scarred man, now known as Jack, was currently staring at the ceiling and moving his long around like a snake while laughing a bit.

"I also heard he and Captain Yami destroyed a mountain when they got into a fight." Finral said as Asta and Gauche starred at the man.

"Alright." Gauche said as Finral moved on to the next captain.

"Next is the imposing, royal captain of the Silver Eagles. His name is Nozel Silva and he has quite the commanding presence and a good looker, damn it." Finral said, mumbling the last part out of jealousy due to Nozel being handsomer than him.

Said man was currently standing proud and staring at the enemy with razor sharp focus, ready for the battle to begin. Finral then gained a blush on his cheeks as he moved on to the final captain, the only female captain.

"And finally, its the captain of the Blue Rose Knights! The cold beauty, Charlotte Roselei!" he said with glee as the woman had her eye closed to focus herself.

The reaction Finral gave caused to recoil from him a bit.

"Jeez, a little worked up don't you think?" Asta asked his friend.

"How can I not? She's gorgeous beyond compare!" Finral said with the blush burning bright.

While the captains stood ready to fight, the Third Eye were silently readying themselves for battle as they returned the captains' stares.

"So, 3 captains, huh? Now this is just getting tedious." Rhya said with a yawn.

"Ha! Like they'll be any match for us!" Vetto said with smiling at the captains.

"Anyone who harms Licht, shall die. They will die, they will die." Fana said in her usual tone of voice.

"I'm dying to tear someone to pieces! Let's get started, shall we?" Jack said as he held up his right severing blade.

"You three are from the Midnight Sun, correct?" Charlotte asked as she had her eyes glued to them.

"We have a great number of questions we would like answers to." Nozel told the Third Eye.

Both sides stood still as Vetto let out an anxious growl and Jack chuckled in excitement, feeling the intesity in the air as a new, more deadly battle was about to begin.

 **(Ending: Ending 3, same as Anime except when Noelle is standing in the lake, she catches Asta staring at her with curiosity. She runs to him and stops a few feet away, she looks as if she wants to tell him something but can't and turns away. This confuses Asta until he walks to her and takes her left hand into his right hand, causing her to turn around and meet his smile before he turns and walks forward while pulling her with him. Noelle just stares at him for a bit before smiling and walking next to him, their hands still together.)**

* * *

OC Spells

1\. Iron Dragon Kunai. Metal Storm: Launching multiple iron kunai at once towards a target. Used in Chapter 10.

2\. Iron Dragon Sword. Spinning Slash: When air born ,transforms leg into iron sword, with spikes spinning, and give self a spin with plummeting to targer. Used in Chapter 13.

3\. Iron Dragon Cage: Use as a shield or trap, user thrusts arms into the ground and summons multiple Iron Clubs to form a pyramid around self or target. Used in Chapter 21.

4\. Iron Shadow Dragon Crushing Fist: Used in Iron Shadow Dragon mode. Fusing any amount of shadow magic into the Iron Dragon Hard Fist, it delivers a greater blow with more power. Used in Chapter 21.

5\. Iron Shadow Dragon Sword. Slashing Wave: Used in Iron Shadow Dragon mode. Infusing Shadow Magic into the sword allows it to send a flying slash attack towards opponents. Used in Chapter 25.


	37. Breaking Through Barriers

**bulk Locke the the grim head: Thanks and maybe he could've beat Rhya and Vetto if he was at full strength. Also, I think Rhya does need to touch someone else's grimoire to use their magic spells.**

 **HollowSeven: Everyone's entitled to their own opinion.**

 **BanRedfox: Can't wait to see those.**

The air in the cave was as tense as can be as the Third Eye and the 3 captains starred each other down, ready for a new fight with new opponents.

"Well, well, well, a second course. Delicious." Vetto said as he smiled with dangerous delight at Jack, Nozel, and Charlotte.

"How dare you, Yami." Jack said as he gazed back at Yami. "How can you hog all the interesting battle to yourself while we were bored? But seeing what they did to you, just make me want to tear them apart even more!" He finished with a smile with delight equal to that of Vetto's.

"I don't think you'll enjoy it that much." Yami said as he continued to against his rock chair. "I was about to win this and go home until you morons showed up."

"Kekekeke!" Jack laughed before turned to face Yami. "Whatever you say, but your looks don't match your words."

"Chuh! Me, keep dreaming!" Yami retorted.

"Kekeke. I was going to take my anger out on them but how about I use you instead?" Jack replied as he pointed his left severing blade at Yami.

"AND there's the nut job we all know." Yami plainly replied, not effected by the threat even when the blade was near his neck. "Please, forgive me. I spoke out of tone." he 'apologized' in a flat tone.

This seemed to work as Jack removed the blade from Yami's neck.

"Kekeke. Scared? I wasn't really going to slice to pieces, at least not until you're back to full strength." Jack siad with a sick look in his eyes. "There's no point if it's not that challenging."

Jack's eyes so moved to Asta, seeing and sensing unique and powerful magic.

'Hm! He looks like he would be some fun! I'll have to ask Yami later if I could play with him for a bit!' he thought with excitement before turned back to the Third Eye.

"Do we look like those responsible to get you out of a bind?" Charollete complained as she continued to glare at the Third Eye, not even giving Yami a glance. "You can't even stand on your own two feet, pathetic man."

"Eh, I prefer to think of it as the ground just loves my ass that much." Yami said as he closed his eyes and placed his cigarette in his mouth.

"Simple minded fool, the earth hold no affection for a filthy miscreant like you." Charlotte replied.

"Oh! Big words and a sassy mouth, gonna be hard to land yourself a man with traits like that." Yami said until his body up to his neck as covered in her briar branches but they weren't touching him. "And now, she's mad."

Charlotte then turned her gaze to Yami with fire and said with a slightly raised tone, "One such as me requires no man! My only partner is the battlefield!"

Yami didn't seem to (or care) believe that and replied, "I get you're some kind of warrior woman but that is just sad."

Charlotte held her words, shut her eyes, and bit her tongue as she didn't turn to meet his gaze because if she did, he would seen the red blush on her cheeks and nervous sweat on her face.

'How could I fall for such a neanderthal with no regard for anyone's feelings?! Is this some kind of cruel joke b the heavens?!' she thought, showing that she actually had feelings for YAMI and was just putting on an act to save face! 'But even so, I can not remove him from my thoughts! And after what I just said, I couldn't possibly tell hi the truth now!'

Charlotte then shot her eyes open as a new thought came to mind.

'And what would my squad members think?!' she thought as she just imagined what her subordinate, Sol, would say.

 _"Are you serious, Char?! A man and a disgusting one like him?!"_ the thought up Sol said in a shocked and scared tone.

'No, I have to put those thought aside. I must focus on the enemy.' Charlotte thought as she put her attention back to the Rhya, Vetto, and Fana.

"So, this it the Eye of the Midnight Sun's leader and top warriors. The highest ones of the organization that attack the kingdom capital." Nozel said as he eyed them and remembered the invasion, remembering what happened to Fuegoleon. "This is a chance I shall not waste, I shall bury you all right here." he finished as his grimoire glowed with power and more mercury surrounded him.

"Wow, Nozel! You're amazing!" Yami said with fake excitement.

"You just sit, keep quiet, and stay out of trouble foreigner." Nozel said with a bit of disgust.

"Oh, thank you for your concern, oh great Eagle captain." Yami continued with the fake excitement. "It's so nice to see that you care."

Nozel turned his head to stare aimlessly at Yami as the (in his opinion) disgrace of a captain went on.

"Hey, how do you guys think he gets his hair like that? All braided and stuff." Yami said to Gauche, Finral, and Asta, who standing behind him.

"Well, he is royalty, so I guess a servant does that for him." Asta said as he lowered his scales to conserve what little power he head left.

"I'm my opinion, he's probably got his own personal stylist to do his hair." Finral said as he close his eyes and took a thinking pose with his arms covered and right hand under his chin.

"Hm, I think that would be the worse job a person could ask for." Yami said, thinking that anyone who would work for a Silva would be miserable.

"So, you think he braids his own hair?" Asta asked, imagining Nozel sitting in front of a mirror and braiding his hair.

"Oh yeah! He must have tons of time on his hands to do that! Loser." Yami said as Nozel began to get annoyed with this conversation.

"Actually, I think I shall bury you before the Midnight Sun." Nozel said as he gained a bit of a cold look and aiming it at Yami.

"Now is that wise to waste your magic on a common foreigner?" Yami asked, countering Nozel's threat with a logical response.

The question seemed to work and went unanswered as Nozel turned back to the Third Eye.

"No mercy." he said.

"Hmph." Charlotte grunted.

"Kekeke." Jack laughed as he lifted one of his blades.

The magic in the air was pulsating as both sides waited for someone to make the first move.

"Alright, now the tables have turned in our favor!" Asta said as he prepared himself to fight. "Let's take em down!"

"You will not be fighting." Nozel said, not even turned to a surprised Asta. "The captains have taken the battlefield and anyone who jumps in now, will only become fodder. Especially a commoner like you."

Asta growled a bit at this, even if he did have magic power almost equal to a captain and wanted to fight, he was in no condition when he was so low on power.

"Wonderful, there's no better place to feast on despair than an endless battle." Vetto said as he crouched down a bit and cracked his knuckles. "And no despair is greater than when the mightiest have fallen into death's hands."

"He. What's he going on about?" Yami asked as he and Asta continued to watch the Third Eye.

"It looks like we have to dispose of some filthy rats." Vetto said, excited about killing them while Fana held the same blank face and **Salamander Spirit** on her shoulder.

"Man, you are way too excited about this fight. It just sounds boring to me." Rhya commented with another yawn before lifting up his copy of Yami's **Dark Cloak** katana. "Eh, whatever. I guess I'll put in a bit of effort for my friend's sake." he finished with a smile as he referred to Licht, who was still watching from within Fana's healing spell.

The first move was made as Rhya skid front of Vetto and Fana before jumping to the captains.

"By this way, dibs on the beautiful woman. And when I beat you, let's go out for a drink!" Rhya said as he approached Charlotte, who prepared her grimoire and magic briars.

"Beat me? You must be delusion if you think that will happen." she said before holding her arms to her sides. " **Briar Creation Magic! Corpse Hunting Briar Tree!"**

Briars shot out from the ground and shot towards Rhya but were soon met with a swing from his **copy katana** and were destroyed. The briar attacks didn't stop as more raced towards him, only to miss as he dodged left, right and jumping from place to place Rhya ran straight until he stopped, turned and slashed a **Lightless Slash** at Charlotte, who dodge the attack as it cut through the roots of her briars. A determined glare meet Rhya smirking and laughing face as the other were engaged in their own battles.

 **"Severing Magic! Death Scythe!"** Jack the Ripper exclaimed as his right severing blade was coating in green magic and he unleashed a powerful slashing wave towards a grinning Vetto.

The ground was sliced open as Vetto dodge to his right and Jack jumped right in front of him.

"I heard you were eager to fight. How about we play a bit, beasty?" Jack as with a grin that could match Vetto's.

"Oh. Captain of the Praying Mantises, if you're my opponent, I'll crush you like the bug you are!" Vetto said as he saw the symbol on Jack's robe, confident he can win.

"Really now? Well, let's just see about that!" Jack said as he jumped and sent another severing wave that was dodged by Vetto.

This seemed to annoy Vetto as he lost his smile for a moment and looked as if he was about to get serious.

"Pretty confident for a bug!" he commented as he flared up his **Beast Magic.** "Alright, let's see if you're still smiling after I rip you apart, piece by piece! Go, **Bear Claw!** " he said as he charged at Jack.

"At long last, this moment has arrived." Nozel said as he glared towards Licht and remembered his silent vow to make the Eye of the Midnight Sun pay after witnessing Fuegoleon's injured state near the end of the invasion. Killing their leader here and now would be the perfect chance to do so. **"Mercury Magic! Silver Spears"** he commanded as the mercury around him formed spear heads and rushed towards a still healing Licht.

His attack almost reach a gasping Licht until a sudden blast of fire stopped all 3 spears, causing Nozel to jump a bit in shock.

"Another fool has attempted to harm my friend, Licht. For that, I will kill you." Fana said as the **Salamander Spirit** on her right shoulder let out a bit of fire.

Battling continued to rage on as Jack and Vetto clashed in the air, **Severing Blade** against **Bear Claw.**

"Kekeke. Looks like your mercury can't handle the Salamander's heat." Jack commented as he landed and look towards Nozel. "You wanna swap, silver boy?"

Nozel held the same straight face expression as he gazed upon Fana.

"No need, such flames could never be enough to get the better of me." he replied as more spears formed around him. "You have no idea what it took to stand were I am today." he finished, remembering his rival Fuegoleon in the process.

More of his spears were launched as the Salamander Spirit unleashed a giant stream of flames to counter them. Destruction and determination filled the cave turned battle field as Jack unleashed two, strong slash towards Vetto, who dodged as the ground beneath him was torn to pieces. The beast man, with his magic still cloaking him, got in delivered a barrage of fists that were met with Jack's blades every time. Rhya and Charlotte continued their deadly dance of briar whips and copy shadows, the battle were growing more intense with every second as the Black Bulls continued to watch from the side lines.

"WHOA!" Finral said as he covered his face with his left arm. "All of this magic clashing head on, it's like a natural disaster!"

"I can't see a thing with the dust picking up!" Gauche said as he tried to shield his right eye.

'This...is like nothing I've ever seen!' Asta thought as he watched the devastating clash between the Knight Captains and the Third Eye.

"Man, they sure are fighting out there. Careful Jack, you talk big but you might cut it close against that attack. Charlotte's doing alright with those briars too, not budging in the slightest." Yami commentated as he watched the fighting.

"You can see all that?" Asta asked as he turned to a smirking Yami.

"Yeah, duh. Ki? What I just taught you?" Yami replied. "I can sense their moves even through all the commotion."

"Oh, yeah." Asta said.

Yami then turned his head to Finral, who was standing behind him.

"Hey, Finral, you good?" he asked.

"Uh good for what, sir?" Finral asked back.

"I mean on your magic. You've been resting for a while and I think you have enough for a spell." Yami asnwered as Finral got out his grimoire.

"Oh! Yeah, I do! Does this mean we're going home?!" Finral asked, hoping to finally escape this plethora in insanely strong monsters. "Let the others handle the fight and we..."

Finral voice and hopefulness fell flat as Yami gave him a strange look and a short laugh. The battle continued as Licht was healing more and more while watch his friends fight against his enemies.

"The magic knights are as powerful as I thought they'd be." Licht commentated as he saw Vetto clash with Jack once again. "But, they can not defeat my friends, the Third Eye." he continued as Fana's **Salamander Spirit** burned away more of Nozel's mercury attacks. "The mana of this world favors us over them but that raises the question about one thing." he continued on as Charlotte's briar attack were countered by Rhya's copy shadow slashes.

Licht's thoughts soon change from the battle to Asta and the strange and powerful magic, the magic of a dragon, he came to wield.

"How could this world give a boy like him possess a power that not even I nor anyone has ever seen before? I must retrieve that boy and discover the answer I seek." he said as he wanted to capture Asta once again.

While his thought were about capture and study, Licht didn't notice a white spacial portal open above him and Yami come out with his grimoire at his side and what was left of his katana above his head with **Dark Magic** surrounding it.

'He weak right now but I won't risk letting him escape!' Yami thought as he closed in on Licht, seeing it as his once chance to land a finishing blow!

His surprise attack was soon expected as Licht turned his head towards Yami, giving him a smug, victorious smile.

'As expected of you!' Licht thought as the flames around his vanished and he prepared a light magic attack in his left hand.

'He's going to counter!' Finral thought before screaming to Yami, "Look out, sir!"

Everyone could see what was about to happen as Rhya landed on the ground after dodging Charlotte's attack again.

"Oh my! It looks like you underestimated our boss!" he said as he quickly slashed away more of Charlotte's attacks before sending a large attack towards her.

Charlotte dodged the attack as she turned her head up and gained a look of shock and worry.

'Yami!' she thought.

"This is the end!" Licht said with a too happy look on his face.

"Rah!" Vetto shouted as he attack Jack once again.

"End him, Licht." Fana said as she gazed up to Licht actually cracked a small smile at what he was about to do.

Yami kept his eyes looked on Licht as he and Licht suddenly felt a rise in magic power.

'Going for the big one like me, huh?' Yami thought as he saw Asta, in **Iron Shadow Dragon mode** , jump from the smoke beside Licht. 'Well, go for it!'

This sudden appearance of Asta beside Licht caused everyone to freeze in shock and surprise.

'How did he get there?!' they all thought.

'It should've have been possible to get so close without anyone noticing!' Nozel exclaimed as dust kicked up from Licht's prepared attack.

'That's the kind of thing you can do when you learn ki!' Yami thought as he grit his teeth.

Time seemed to slow down as Licht turned his gaze to Asta.

'How could we have not noticed until now?!' he thought as Asta began pull his right hand back. 'What is this magic?!'

'With everything I've been through and everything I've seen today, I now know that the barrier between me and my dream can't be broken with just my will and power!' he thought as his arm gave off a bright light. 'But I'll find a way, with the people I hold dear close in my heart!'

His mind suddenly wen through flashes of his family back in Hage Village, the friends he's made in the Black Bulls, the two who are his rivals, Yuno and Leopold, and finally, Noelle, the girl who he hadn't known for long but still cherished very much! His mind returned to that matter at hand as his right arm changed into a hammer head, one that didn't look as if it were made of iron!

 **"Advanced Dragon Slayer Secret Art!"** Asta shouted.

"Thanks for trusting I'd take one last swing!" Yami shouted to a frozen Licht with a gaping mouth. "As for me, I put my trust in our crazy dragon freak here!"

 **"Karma Demon!"** Asta exclaimed as he struck Licht in his left side, causing him to fire his attack into far into the sky! **"Steel War Hammer!"**

Asta swung his arm to launch Licht towards Yami, who quickly swung his sword down and sent him crashing into the cave ground, kicking up a mushroom cloud of dust as Asta landed a on the ground close to were Licht crashed.

"Huh! Huh! Got you! How do you like my new attack?!" Asta said with a smile between breaths before returning to normal and falling to his knees. 'I did but I was barely able to, good thing I found and eat the broken part of Yami's sword. before -' he thoughts were intetrupted as Yami soon landed on him.

"Are you trying to take credit kid? And doing it with an attack made up right off the bat?" Yami asked as he sat on Asta's back with a smile on his face before placing his hand on Asta's head.

"Sir!" Asta said as he turned to Yami.

"Not half bad, kid. You pushed past another limit." Yami said as he looked down at Asta.

"Thanks, sir." Asta said back, feeling a bit stronger inside.

Not far from them, Charlotte looked back at their captain/subordinate moment before focusing back on Rhya and attack, only for him to dodge.

"Licht! Where are you?!" Rhya shouted as he gained a concerned look.

"Licht!" Vetto with wide eyes and Fana with a worried face shouted.

"Pay attention, Mr. Beasty!" Jack shouted as he launched a slash wave at Vetto, who was ignoring him and running to find Licht. "That runt, he left us out of the loop!" Jack said as he landed on the ground. "Keke. So much for getting the glory of taking down the leader."

Nozel seemed to flinch a bit at Asta' bold move as Charlotte brought the priority back to their minds.

"Focus! We're captains and we must not fall behind! Let's deal with the rest!" she said, reminding them the Third Eye were still a threat to be taken care of.

"Captain Yami?" Finral said as he and Gauche approached Asta and Yami, who were back on their feet.

"I wonder if anymore of his friends will come?" Yami asked as he took a puff from his cigarette.

"Really?!" Asta asked him as he turned his head to Yami, wondering if he was serious.

"I think you should finish him while you have the chance. The other captains can keep his friends busy." Finral added, seeing a good opportunity.

"Yeah." Yami said until something strange occurred.

Three lines of strange symbols began to circle around Licht before expanding and causing Licht's body to give off a bright light.

"He's glowing!" Finral said in surprise.

"What in the?" Gauche said in curiosity.

The light could be seen from everywhere in the cave as Vetto turned to it and lost his smile.

"No, when that brat struck Licht with his Steel Shadow Hammer, it must've broke the Spell of Sealing on him. But how?!" he said as he saw Licht rise into the air.

"This is not good." Rhya said as he turned away from Charlotte. "That was meant to be set aside for a future to come."

Licht continued to rise n the air along with a few small pieces of earth that were crumbling away. He regained consciousness before growing wide eyed at what was happening to him.

"This cannot be happening!" Licht said with a surprised face as he stared down at Asta. "How dare you?! How dare you break this scarred seal!? What sort of magic is that?!"

Everyone was a bit confused by his rambling but got the jist thatb he was very pissed off.

"What's going on with him?" Finral asked.

"The only way you'd be able to do this, is if you had the power of the master!" Licht shouted without thinking.

In the distance, Nozel heard this and grew curious of the information Licht gave.

'Master? If our information is correct, this master is the true leader of the Midnight Sun. And if that is true, then is he not their leader?' he thought as his eyes gazed upon Licht.

"Look, I don't care what you say or who your master is!" Asta shouted at Licht as he placed his hand over his chest. "But this magic, this dragon magic, is mine! I don't care what anyone else has to say, so knock it off with the accusations!"

"That power, give it to me." Licht said in an emotionless voice, causing Asta's instincts to go on high alert. "Such power has no right to be with a human!" Licht said as the light around him started to expand and destroy the cave around them.

"Oh man!" Asta said as he saw bits of the cave began to float in the the air.

"What do we do now, captain?" Gauche asked Yami, a little worried about the situation.

"Things aren't looking good, huh?" Yami commented.

"Kekeke! This looks like fun!" Jack said before he jumped in the air and attacked. **"Death Scythe!"**

His attack flew towards Licht but it didn't get close and was destroyed by the orb of light, which continued to expand, surrounding Licht.

"Impossible! My Severing Magic was absorbed!" Jack said after witnessing it.

"That light, it's a mass of magic power and it keeps growing!" Charlotte commented. "If he releashes all the power, it'll destroy us and everything in the area around us! But even a captain can't stop this, what do we do?!"

The earth around the cave continued to rise in the air as Finral stared at Licht with a look of panic and fear on his face.

"This level of mana, he's been holding back from the start." he said as he raised his hands to see them trembling. "He could've killed us at any time he wanted." he continued before grasping his head and throwing it back. "AAAAAHHHHH! Why did I come along on this stupid mission?! Actually, forget that! I should've never joined the Black Bulls in the first place!" He panic as he turned his attention to a strangely calm and irritated Yami.

"Will you stop whinning? No one wants to hear that!" Yami retorted before turning back to an unstable Licht and smiling. "Besides, we have an opening here! Just think of all the limits that could be broken here against a power like this!"

'I know that sounds insane but I can't help but feel pumped about this!' Asta thought as he used what little magic her had left to cover his fists in iron scales. "Let's do it." he said.

"ARE YOU TWO INSANE?! THERE'S NO WAY YOU CAN WIN!" Finral shouted in panic before his shoulder was grasped by Gauche.

"Quit whinning and pull yourself together, Finral." Gauche told him as he held Finral's by the collar of his robe.

"Hey, I'm still your superior!" Finral let out as he had tears flowing from his eyes.

Gauche turned his gaze upward and wondered, 'I don't know if I've recovered enough mana to reflect his attack but could it be enough for this?'

In the background, Rhya was still facing Charlotte before he decided it was time take his leave.

"Bad news, beautiful. I'm gonna have to take a rain check on that drink." he told her as his comrades had the same idea.

"His body won't be able to hold much longer!" Vetto said, frowning as he rushed to Licht. "Hurry!"

Fana and Rhya agreed with this and quickly made their way to Licht before standing in triangle formation around him. They all focused and flaired their magic power to utilize the only spell that could use to save their friend.

 **"Trinity Sealing Magic!"** The Third Eye shouted before sending the magic energy towards Licht, attempting to place his power back in it's seal.

"They're trying to seal him?" Nozel questioned as he, Jack, and Charlotte watched.

"All of that power." Charlotte added.

The Third Eye's spelled seemed to be working since after a few seconds, the light died down to show that Licht had been sealed within a giant, jagged crystal formation.

"Incredible." Finral let out after seeing the display.

"Unbelievable." Asta said as it was amazing that they could contain a man with that much magic power.

"You pushed yourself too hard this time Licht. "Rhya said as he put his hands down. "Now take it easy and get some rest, we gotcha."

"It will be fine, Licht." Fana said, smiling at the encased Licht.

"For now, friend." Vetto said, regaining his twisted smile.

In an instant, Rhya appeared in front of Valtos, who was freed from the restraints and cage due to the commotion of the battle, and lifted him up.

"Time to go, Vaulty." Rhya said, with his grimoire at his side before disappearing in an instant again.

Rhya returned to the encased Licht and through his Copy Magic, opened a black, spacial portal for all of them to exit.

"Since our boss isn't feeling so hot, we're gonna have to pack it up fro today." Rhya said as he turned his eye towards the Magic Knights.

"Though we lost you you today, next time we face, I'll make sure you taste the sweet despair I promise you that!" Vetto said as the portal began to cover them. Carnivores such as I live to feast of bottom feeders like you all."

"The next we meet, will be that last breath you take." Fana said as she, Vetto, and Rhya stood in front of Licht.

"Remember this! The Eye of the Midnight Sun is always watching!" Vetto said as they finally faded away into the portal.

The destroyed cave was left in silence as everyone was pondering on the battle and the event that just transpired before them.

'All that magic power, and they sealed it with one spell.' Charlotte thought as the sun shinned in the cave. "So, they just toyed with us." she let out as she cast her gaze to the floor.

'The Third Eye, possessing a great a mount of mana and extremely skilled in it's use.' Jack thought as he let his tongue move freely outside of his mouth before putting it back in. "They really are loved by the world's mana. Kekeke, I'd love another chance to slice them up." he said, feeling excited about battling them again in the future.

Nozel said nothing as he gazed towards the sky. 'They escaped but they won't be so lucky next time. I will keep my promise and I will avenge you, my old enemy.' he thought as recalled his and Fuegoleon's clash at the service ceremony.

"So, does this count as a win?" Asta wondered as he turned his fists back to normal.

"I don't think so since they just ran off." Finral added.

"Hm. Them running off is as good as a win in my book." Yami said as he brought his cigarette, which was somehow still lit, to his mouth. "Besides, beast boy said it himself, remember?"

This got a mixed reaction from the Black Bulls as Asta and Finral cheered a bit but Gauche put Finral down by saying he did nothing. AS they continued to talk, Jack made his way to Yami to tell him something.

"Yami, come on. We're waiting." he said as Yami, who had his back turned to him. "Is there something you'd like to say?"

"I'm starving." Yami said as he smield a bit, ignoring the obvious sign of saying 'thank you.'

"Kekeke! I could care less about your stomach, I mean you owe us a 'thank you.' Since you would've been finished if the other captains and I didn't show up." Jack retorted, letting Yami know was he was suppose to say instead of what he usually said.

"Even if you did show up," Yami started as he turned his head to Jack. "I would've beaten them somehow and I wouldn't have let them run away." he finished with confidence in his voice.

"Kekeke. You don't really think that do you, with how you're looking now?" Jack asked, seeing the condition Yami is in.

"What a foolish man." Charlotte commented as she stared at him. "Fight enemies as strong as them is nothing but recklessness."

Yami lost his smile and replied, "Is really that hard for you to smile once in a while?"

'But still, the thpught of him fighting all of them by his lonesome.' Charlotte thought as turned her back to him and gained a small blush. 'I guess I didn't fall for him for nothing.'

"Like I said before, if you don't watch that mouth of your's, you're never gonna land yourself a man." Yami said with his arms crossed.

"I already told you, the battle field is my companion!" Charlotte yelled, breaking her composed look for a moment. "Worry about your own love life and I'll worry about mine." she finished with shutting her eyes.

Yami let out a short laughed before replying, "Alright, I'll make you a deal, Charlotte. If we're both single when we're old and gray, we'll look after each other, huh?"

"What?!" she exclaimed as she turned her eyes to him. "You must be joking! Who would want to be with the likes of you!?"

Her words betrayed her heart onace again she she shut her mouth once again.

'Why can not I just be honest with him?' she thought with an embarrassed frown.

Asta let out one more cheer before he fell to his backside with his arms on his knees, due to the lowness of his magic and the adrenaline wearing off.

"Asta's down!" Finral commented as he and Gauche casted their gazes at him.

"It's understandable, he did push past his limits." Yami said. "Go ahead, get him fixed up."

"Are you talking to me?" Finral asked.

"Who else? Make yourself useful." Yami said without concern for Finfal's feelings.

"Useful? What do think I've been doing all day?" Finral asked, getting 'Chuh' as a reply. "Oh shut up!"

As Asta was catching his breath with his eyes closed, Nozel turned his gaze towards him with interesting in his eyes.

'Hhmm. I'll have to remember him. Asta was his name?' he thought as things continued to calm down.

* * *

Side Notes: Sorry for the delay. College life.

OC Spell #6

Advanced Dragon Slayer Secret Art. Karma Demon Steel War Hammer: Used in Iron Shadow Dragon mode. Combining iron and shadows before willing it to become a type of mimic steel in the shape of a hammer head before delivering a devastating blow capable of breaking any defense or binding. Even seals. (looks like the hammer hands Gajeel used against King Faust)

Reason for making it: Mavis' wisdom about breaking through barriers using the power of your feelings.


	38. Home Sweet Home and Bitter News

**bulk Locke the the grim head: Thanks and Rhya does need to touch another grimoire to copy it's magic. Why else did he come so close to Yami's grimoire? And I agree with the shipping.**

 **BanRedfox: I got plans for that, and I promise not to disappoint.**

We open to a normal looking room where we find Asta was currently being held by Mimosa in a healing plant spell basket, which he had been in for about a days time to fully recover. Surrounding them were Yuno, Klaus, and Noelle watched with Nero sitting on top of the basket.

"Just a bit longer Asta and you'll be good as new." Mimosa said as she used her magic healing plant.

"That's good, I'm starting to get restless." Asta commented as he sat crossed legged in the basket with an iron nail in his mouth.

"And there, you're all done." Mimosa said as the basket feel apart.

"Finally." Asta said landing on his feet and stretching a bit. "It's good to be back on my feet, never know how much you miss walking until you can't for a while."

"Oh, quit you idiotic babbling." Noelle said, as she turned to the side with her eyes closed. Though she hid it, she was glad that he was alright.

"Don't be dramatic." Yuno commented as he placed a hand on his hip.

"Geez, that's kinda harsh. I just fully recovered, shouldn't I get more of a warm response?" Asta asked.

"Well, we were worried about you if you're doubting that." Klaus said as he turned his head and pushed his glasses up.

"I'm so glad you're alright, Asta." Mimosa said with a smile before giving him a surprise hug. "I can't help but worry about you."

This caused Noelle to jumped in shock, jealous that Mimosa was getting close to Asta, before shouting, "Alright that is enough of that!" she said as she pushed Asta way from Mimosa and into a wall, where he slid to the ground.

"Uh, what was that about?" he asked as he rubbed his head a bit.

This caused a bit of embarrassment to wash over Noelle's face before she quickly turned away with her eyes shut. Asta returned to his feet as Klaus decided to speak.

"Still, it fills me with shame that we couldn't have helped more." he said with a sigh. "But, we arrived too late."

"Though, word came extremely late." Yuno said with closed eyes.

"But at least we were able to assist afterwards." Mimosa said with a smile.

"Yeah, your **Recovery Magic** was a big help. Thanks." Asta said, giving his own smile as Nero landed on his head.

"Oh, it was nothing really." Mimosa replied as she waved her hand and looked away. "I can't take all the credit, Klaus did help a bit as well." she said as she knew that when Asta had to sleep, Klaus kept watch over him just in case something unknown happened.

"Ahem! Anyway, it's because of you all the children were returned safely and the one who took them, Neige, is being questioned as we speak at HQ." Klaus said, causing Asta to lose his smile. "Though, I don't think he can shed any light on the Eye of the Midnight Sun for us."

"Since he's shown to be remorseful and is dedicated to serve for his actions, he'll be volunteering here at the church until further notice." Mimosa said, bring Asta's smile back.

"Well, that's good. I was hoping it'd be something like that." Asta said before turning to Klaus.

"None the less, you did a fine job once more." he complimented.

"Well, if I was me,the enemy wouldn't have escaped as they did." Yuno said, wanting Asta to think he could've done a better job than him.

"That's no gonna matter since I'll catch them, no doubt!" Asta declared as he pointed to Yuno, who was standing behind Mimosa and Noelle. "Mark my words, you won't get a head of me yet. I'll just keep getting stronger!"

"Then I'll just have to do the same but more so." Yuon declared as Asta lowered his hands.

"Well, it doesn't matter cause I'll get even stronger than that! I'll keep working hard until someday, I'll become," Asta started until he and Yuno gained smiles as they both proclaimed, "the Wizard King!"

"Aw! Look at you two. The best of friends!" Mimosa said with a smile.

"Yeah." Asta and Yuno said as Yuno turned away and mumbled, "Ridiculous."

"Well, we best be on our way since Asta's fully healed now." Klaus said as he and Yuno began walking away.

"Yes, sir." Mimosa said as she followed before stopping. "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, Sister Theresa has woken up." she told him as she turned back.

"Really?!" Asta said in surprise and glee that the old woman was okay.

"Yes, she and Gauche are speaking right now." Noelle said.

Asta wasted no time and quickly went to see the old nun/former Magic Knight. He arrived at the room Noelle told him of and opened the door without knocking.

"Sorry to intrude." he said with a small smile, seeing the nun in bed and Gauche and Marie, who turned to Asta, at the side.

"Oh, Asta! Yay!" Marie said as she ran to him and grabbed his arm.

Asta let out a laugh as he swung Marie around as she held onto his arm while flying of the ground. A watching Gauche became stiff like stone as he watched his sister laugh with joy as Asta stopped swinging her around.

"I was so worried, I thought you'd never get better!" Maire said with worry.

"Don't worry! Nothing gonna keep me down for good!" Asta said as he flexed his arms a bit.

"Oh yeah? You wanna bet?" Gauche said as he was feeling the need to kill Asta for getting close to his sister again.

"You still have a lot to growing to do." Sister Theresa commented as she watched from her bed.

"Sister, I'm glad to see your wounds are healing just fine." Asta said as he and Marie went to her bed.

"I may be old but I am far from fragile. I'm doing fine. By the way, I beat your a bit anxious to tell Sister Lily about your little adventures you've had up to now. I beat she'll be thrilled to here from you." the nun said to the boy.

"Oh yeah! I haven't written to her in a while and I'll be she'll be excited to here from me!" Asta said with a smile and turned around. "I bet everyone else will be amazed by all I've been through too."

The door then opened to to Noelle looking in the room.

"It's time for us to get back." she said, reminding Gauche and Asta it was time to leave.

"Alright but I have to do something first." Asta said with a smile.

Noelle was curious to what he needed to do before they left. Some time later, her answer came in the form of Asta speed eating multiple pot potato dishes to the Rebecca made. Her family and Noelle were watching with straight faces as he satisfied his hunger, even if he had eating breaks and munch on some iron between a few healings, the time between each was too long.

"I'm glad you like it, Asta. I figured you'd be hungry afterward but I felt I made to much." Rebecca said as she turned away a bit.

While Asta was gorging on the feast, Noelle and Nero were having some food themselves in the form of soup and seeds.

"Hm. I hate to say it but this is delicious." Noelle mumbled, jealous of Rebecca's skill in the kitchen.

"I'll kill you, kill you." Gauche said a few tables behind, still upset that his sister, who was sitting next to Asta, liked Asta more than him.

"Come on, Gauche. Join us." Marie said to him before turning back to Asta.

"Ah! That really hits the spot!" Asta said as he put down a bowl and picking up another.

On Asta's right, Noelle gazed at Asta with a frown on her face.

'So it's true. Men do prefer a woman that can cook.' She thought with some sadness.

"Asta!" Marco shouted, gaining Asta and Noelle's attention. "Thank you for lending me your robe." he finished as he held Asta's robe in his hands.

"Oh, thanks buddy." Asta said as he stopped eating for a moment. "And you kept it safe like I asked."

"You bet I did!" Marco replied with a smile.

As Nero continued to eat his seeds, Asta had placed his Black Bull robe back on while Noelle watched.

"Even if your robe is clean, I can't very well say the same for you. Looks like I'll have to be the one who makes sure you take care of yourself." she said as she looked away and commented on his odor.

Asta turned to her, a bit confused by this but for some reason felt warm inside because of it. As Asta replied to Noelle, Rebecca was starring at the two as they interacted.

'So, she's that one he talked about before. Well, I know I'm not a match for me but,' she thought while gaining a smile and walked forward. "Asta." she said, gaining his attention.

"What is..." his questions stopped short as Rebecca suddenly kissed him as his right cheek.

Noelle gasped in shock while Asta stood frozen for a moment.

'I can at least take this for myself.' Rebecca thought as removed her lips from Asta's cheek.

"Thank you so much for saving Luca and Marco, Asta." Rebecca said with blushing cheeks and a smile.

"Uh, no problem. It's just what a knight is suppose to do." Asta replied as he turned to her, blushing and putting a hand over the cheek she kissed.

As this happened, Noelle was still starring in shock over the fact the Rebecca was able to KISS Asta before her, even if it was a kiss on the cheek.

"Did...she...GAAHHHHH!" the jealous Silva let out into the sky.

-Time skip- a few hours later, Location- Black Bulls Base-

After finishing things up in Nean Village, Asta, Noelle, and Gauche returned to their base, where a surprise was waiting for Asta and his success back in Nean. A table in the dinning hall, filled to the brim with pies made by Charmy's **Sheep Cooks.**

"Alright, Rasta! To celebrate your victory and recovery, you'll be joining in the Black Bulls Annual Eating Contest and today's item of choice is Pot Potato Pies!" Magna said as he behind of a sitting Asta.

Both Asta and Charmy, who was sitting next to him, starred in awe at the pies before them, loving the smell of them and the sight of these delicious pies. Yami, who was watching just had a sort of smile as he stared at the table of pies.

"Alright!" Asta said with a salute as Charmy just let drool run out of her open mouth.

"Please let us start eating already. I'm starving!" Charmy said as he held up a knife and fork.

Back on her usual couch and in her underwear, Vanessa sat up straight with eyes closed and a slight drunk slur.

"Is this actually a tradition?" she asked as Luck walked in.

"Nope, it's not but hey, wanna spar with me, huh?" Luck exclaimed as he threw a few fists in the air. "I need to make up for lost effort since I missed the fight in Nean!"

As Luck said this, more and more Black Bulls joined the table.

"Only half a day has passed and I already miss my little angel." Gauche said as he stared at a picture of Marie while walking.

"Can I join in on this party for Asta?" Gordon mumbled low for anyone, only Asta, to here.

"Chuuu." Grey let out as he walked in.

"I think I'll pass, i'd rather not end up in a food coma." Finral said as he gazed wearily at the pies.

"I shall pass too. Such a completion is unsuited for royalty." Noelle said as she turned away from the pies.

Magna didn't seem to like this as he lost his smile and turned to them.

"You can't just back out! It's mandatory, so you gotta do it." Magna said as everyone took a seat at the table.

The order was Gauche, Magna (who hadn't sat down yet), Gordon, Asta, Charmy, Vanessa, Noelle, Luck, and Finral

Magna then turned to Yami, and Grey as he stood next to Yami, and said, "Please, be the judge of the contest, Yami sir!" he finished with a bow.

"Fine. Cut the chit chat and get to grubbin." Yami said, as Magna sat down at the table. "Ready, eat!" Yami proclaimed as Grey struck a gong that was behind him.

And so the contest started and was interesting to say the least as everyone had their different methods of eating. Asta was stuffing himself with the pies, having grown immune to the pot potatoes dry mouth affect after eating them all his liffe. Noelle went at a slower pace but complied about the dry mouth. Luck didn't even take a bit before his stomach suddenly expanded.

"How am I already full?" he asked himself as he look at his bloated stomach.

Finral, however wasn't even eating as he was stuffing every piece he pick up into a small spacial portal to his right.

"I see what you're doing, Finral! Stop using your magic to Luck up with _your_ food!" Yami shouted as he instantly knew why Luck was getting so full so fast without eating. Finral jumped a bit before turning to Yami. "Busted! Uh, sir, I'm not that hungry right now but if there's a pretty woman to feed..." he let on as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Out!" Yami exclaimed, eliminating Finral form the contest.

Some were using creative tactics to try and win such as Magna as he got out his grimoire.

"Alright, **Flame Magic. Explosive Reheating."** Magna commanded as he set his pile of pies a blaze, leaving them all black and burnt.

The moment Magna ate just one piece of burnt pie, he groaned and fell to the ground.

"Thought it'd be better well done but I was wrong." he said before groaning some more.

Yami just looke at him as if he were stupid and judged, "You're out, too."

Meanwhile, Asta kept shoving pies into his mouth with no problem and had plenty of room left.

"I ain't full yet, so bring it on!" he said before grabbing another pie and shoving it in his mouth.

Asta was then taken away from his eating as he heard whispering coming from his pile of pies, he then moved one away and saw that Gordon was INSIDE his pile for some reason.

"Gordon, what are you doing in my pies?!" Asta Asked in shock.

Before he could answer, Yami gave judgement.

"That's just creepy, out!" he said, eliminating Gordon.

The other two that weren't eating were Gauche, who stared at his picture of his sister, and Grey, who just sat and did nothing.

"How can I eat if I can't see my precious little sister?" Gauche asked as he got a nosebleed, again.

"You two are out for not even eating!" Yami shouted.

"Chuuuu." Grey relied with the usual smoke.

Back with Noelle, the royal girl was currently holding her dry throat and reach for a glass of water.

"If I could just drink some water, I could continue." she raspily said with dry throat.

Her hope soon faded as the glass tipped over and spilled the water, causing her head to hit the table. To Noelle's right, Vanessa soon vomited and signaled her elimination.

"These losers tapped out long ago. So who do we have left?" Yami said as he turned to see Charmy and Asta still going strong and shoving pies down their gullets with Charmy in the lead due to a slightly small pile.

Magna got up from the floor, having gotten over his aching stomach, and went to see that action up close.

"It's an Charmy-Asta showdown!" he said as the two kept shoving more and more pie into their stomachs.

The air grew intense as both did everything they could to win with both having something of pride on the line. For Asta, it was his love of pot potatoes from his home of Hage Village and for Charmy, it was for her love of food in general and not being out done in a contest of such. The results followed a few minutes later with Charmy as the the victor of the contest and Asta laying on the ground with a full stomach.

"Better luck next time, young one." Charmy said as she enjoyed a cup of tea.

"AW MAN! I can't believe I lost in a contest of pot potatoes!" Asta shouted as he grabbed his head.

'No surprise.' Finral, Noelle, and Magna thought as they knew Charmy would be the winner regardless.

A second later, a small spacial portal opened and an owl flew threw, dropping a envelop into Yami's hands before flying out in another portal. This caught everyone's attention as Yami opened it and threw the envelop on the table, which allowed everyone to see the 3 leaf clover symbol.

"The crest, it's from the capital! What is it, sir?!" Asta said as he got up off the ground.

"If you keep quit, I'll tell ya. Huh, looks like it's from the Wizard King and he's asking for you, kid." Yami said as he silently read the letter.

"Me?!" Asta asked in shock.

"Also says there's gonna be a captains meeting tomorrow. Looks like he wants me to drag you along for the ride." Yami said as he put the letter down and turned to Asta.

"Really but what does he want with me?" Asta asked as he was curious to Julius' sudden summon.

"You think I know, kid?" Yami asked as he grabbed Asta and lifted him up to his face. "If you wanna find out, I guess you'll just have to come to the capital and find out!"

-Timeskip, the next morning. Location, Royal Capital-

The time for the meeting had come and Asta's answer to why he was summoned with Yami would soon be found as the two were currently standing outside of the meeting building where they were greeted by an associate of Julius, who possess a silver, bowl shaped haircut.

"Thank you for waiting and welcome, Black Bulls Captain, Yami Sukehiro, and Black Bulls Junior Knight, Asta." he said to the two.

"Um sorry but I don't know your name." Asta replied to the man.

"My apologies, we've never meet before now." the man replied with a kind smile. "My name is-"

"This is Mushroom Head, kid." Yami interrupted and answered, causing the man to stop and correct him.

"That is not my name and that was unkind and rude, sir. Ahem, my is actually Marx Fracois and I'm an the adviser to the Wizard King." he said as he regained himself after his correction.

"You're his adviser?! Wow, that's amazing!" Asta said in awe, discovering that Marx work alongside the most powerful wizard in the kingdom.

"Well, there's never a dull moment and please, thank you for not calling me 'Mushroom Head'" Marx replied to Asta, until Yami gained their attention.

"Well, it's been a nice chat, Mushroom Head, but mind tell me where the meeting is?" he asked while holding his cigarette, wanting to get this over with a go home as fast as he can.

"Sir, my name is Marx." Marx replied with a frown before answering the captain, "And the preparations for the offical meeting still need a bit of time, so please wait with the other captains inside." the adviser answer with a bit of sweat on his brow before turning to Asta and pulling a waning smile. "Now, Asta, if you would please follow me, I will show you the reason why you have been called."

Asta nodded and soon followed Marx inside the building as Yami went a different way to wait with the other captains. The adviser lead the iron dragon slayer down a spiraling stairwell with a floating magic lantern to light their path.

"I've come to understand you hand a outstanding showing the other day. It's very rare for the Wizard King to bestow 10 stars to a squad at once." Marx said, impressed that the actions Asta and the Black Bulls took in Nean Village.

"10 stars?! Amazing!" ASta said in excitment before regaining himself. "But where are we going though?" he asked as he looked around the empty and creepy stairwell.

"We are currently in a secret underground prison, only few people in the capital know of it's existence." Marx said as they continued to decent. "It's where we would the..."V.I.P.s" so to speak."

"V.I.P.s? You mean like the really dangerous ones?" Asta asked.

"Correct, like the Eye of the Midnight Sun for example. 2 of their members were captured for their invasion on the capital and are being kept here at this very moment." Marx said as he kept his face forward.

This surprised Asta as his arms flinched a bit and his eyes went wide.

"So, you've been keeping them here since the invasion ended?!" Asta exclaimed.

"Yes and the reason is that we've been trying to get vital information out of them but they've had **Memory Protective Magic** cast on them, so we haven't be able to get anything." Marx explained. "But, after hearing what you accomplished back in Nean Village, the Wizard King has an idea that might help us. He was fascinated when he found out you could break mental enchantments with your **Iron Shadow Dragon mode** and believes that could help us in getting passed the enchantment on them. That's wjy you were summoned here." Marx finished, explaining the reason why Asta was summon in the letter.

Asta was surprised once agaon by this as Marx continued to speak.

"The attack on the capital was too well coordinated and was able to counter nearly every more we made, and that wouldn't be possible unless there was a traitor among us. And this traitor would have to be of a high ranking if they were able to do it without detection., such as a Magic Knight Captain." Marx said as he gazed down, dreading the thought of a traitor in the Clover Kingdom.

Asta grit his teeth and growled, sweating at and hating the thought of someone, especially a captain, willing to betray their own home for any reason.

"A captain?!" Asta said in shock.

"We wish it isn't so as well, but that's way we need you. So we can be certain if it's false or not." Marx said as Asta gained a determine yet still nervous look on his face.

They continued down the stairwell until they were met with a double door made of metal and wood.

"We've arrived." Marx said as he stood to Asta's right side.

"Okay." Asta said, steeling himself for the prisoners.

Asta decided to be the one to open the door as he slowly pushed the left door opened and peak inside, where he was meet with the sight the Wizard King, Julis, standing in front of two people tied to metal posts, the members of the Midnight Sun as Asta could presume.

"Hi!" Julius greeted wit a wave of his hand. "Come on in, Asta. That was excellent work you did the other day."

"Th-Thank you, sir! I'll be sure to keep it up!" Asta replied as he and Marx entered the room.

"I look forward to it and I'm sorry if this is sudden. I know you must be tired from the event in Nean but I think you Iron Shadow Dragon mode is the only thing that could help in this." Julius said as he put his hand down. "Incidentally, I heard you fought the strongest members of the Midnight Sun and saw their unique magic!" Julius let out like an excited child as he ran to Asta. "Tell me, what were they like?!"

"Uh, well, they were strong. Stronger than anyone I've met besides you and the captains." Asta said as he was a bit uncomfortable with the close distance and excited nature of Julius.

"I would say! **Copy Magic** , magic that copies the spells of others, **Beast Magic** , one that I've never heard of, and **Spirit Magic** , so powerful and rare! It's all so marvelous. How I wished to have seen it for myself." Julius said, recalling the reports the Magic Knight Captains that fought the Third Eye delivered to him and imagining the magics.

"Uh, sorry?" Asta questionable apologized before Marx got inbetween him and Julius.

"Sir, please. Calm yourself." Marx requested, causing Julius to remember the objective at hand.

"Sorry, I got excited again." Julius said as he rubbed the back of his head. "But, since I assumed Marx explained everything to you, we need you to use your power. Can you do that?"

"Yes, sir! The Iron Dragon of the Black Bulls is at your service!" Asta shouted before quickly transformed into **Iron Shadow Dragon mode.**

"Yay!" Julius said, getting excited from seeing this form for the second time.

At the prisoner's posts, the grey haired woman on the left asked, "Why did they bring this brat here?"

On her right, was Geork, the member Asta fought with Noelle and Leopold back at the invasion, who had a cold sweat on his forehead.

"We're about to find out." he said. "That's the one who possess unique **Dragon Magic** , Catherine. my only guess is that their going to have him break the protective enchantment on our memories." Gerok finished as Asta walked towards them, his shadowy mist dancing around his finger tips as he got closer to them.

Catherine, the old woman, gasped in shock as Asta chuckled in giddiness in his demonic like form.

"No! No! Keep away, you swine! Keep away!" Catherine protested but her words fell to deaf ears.

With a quick flick of his hands. Asta's **Shadow Magic** flew into Geork and Catherine's ears and stayed for a few moments before pulling out and letting plumes of smoke rise from their heads, showing that the enchantment protecting their memories was no more.

"Alright, Marxy, you're up." Julius said as Marx pulled out a bright white grimoire.

"Sir. **Memory Exchange Magic. Mémoire Absolue."** Marx said as white, spiked domes appeared over the prisoners' heads.

From the domes, grew a white line that connected to a sphere further above the target, and along the connecting column are five horizontal planes, each on containing the memories of Geork and Catherine.

"What is this?" Asta asked as he watched in awe.

"A spell that lets us connect with their minds and shows all the truth in their memories. From this point, they have nothing left to hide." Marx said with determination as he, Asta, and Julius view the two Midnight Sun prisoners.

"Amazing!" Asta said with wide, white eyes, having still being in **Iron Shadow Dragon mode.**

"I know! With this spell, you can get any information without any problems!" Julius said in excitement

"Yeah!" Asta replied with gusto.

"If you don't mind I would like some silence to concentrate please." Marx said, annoyed by the noise.

"Sorry." Asta and Julius replied.

Marx gained a serious look as he gazed at Geork and Catherine, who had dulled eyes to show the spell had them in it's influence.

"Now, I'm going to ask you two some questions and you must answer honestly, understood?" Marx said.

"Yes, sir." they answered in low tones.

Asta stayed silent and watched with as Marx used a communication spell and contacted the waiting captains.

"Thank you all for you patience, everyone. The preparations are finished but the meeting will be taking place in another location." he said, much to the ire of Yami.

A few minutes later, all of the captains were assembled in the secret underground prison with Asta, Julius, Marx, and the Midnight Sun prisoners. This caused Asta to feel a bit nervous since it was only the second time since he's seen all of the captain, minus the comatose Fuegoleon, in one place. Jack the Ripper of the Praying Mantises, Rill Boismortier of the Azure Deer, Charlotte Roselei of the Blue Roses, Gueldre Poizot of the Purple Orcas, Nozel Silva of the Silver Eagles, Dorothy Unsworth of the Coral Peacocks, Yami Sukehiro of the Black Bulls, and William Vangeance of the Golden Dawns. He tried his best to not do anything foolish as a bit of sweat ran down the side of his face but the nervousness left for a moment as his captain, Yami, decided to ease the tension.

"So, this is where they took ya. Doin fine, kid?" he asked with a lite cigarette in his right hand.

"Uh, yes, sir. I'm fine." Asta said as he looked down, still a bit nervous being around 7 of the Clover Kingdom's powerful captains. "Thanks for your concern."

"What's with him? Does he need to take a dump?" Yami asked himself, curious to Asta's nervous behavior.

"Excuse me, sir, but if you don't mind, what is all this about?" asked William as he stared as Marx, Julius, Asta, and the two prisoners.

"Yes, those two behind you are of the Midnight Sun, yes? Have you learned something from them?" Charlotte asked as she looked at Geork and Catherine.

"Why yes, several things thanks to Asta and Marx. But the juiciest thing we go was this, it's come to light that one of you has been working with the Eye of the Midnight Sun." Julius said as he waved his finger and gave his usual smile, knowing that he just increased the gravity of the room.


	39. Goin Huntin, A New Mission

**bulk Locke the the grim head: Thank you.**

 **TheLightFairyHearts: Thanks.**

 **Guest: Asta X Noelle.**

 **College = Late Updates**

The tension in the room was still think as ice as the gravity of the news lingered, but it was just so hard to believe. A captain being a traitor?! This was not only the greatest of insults to the ranking but the greatest act of treason they had even known! Who is it? Who is the one who had to gall to betray their home, their fellow people and for what reason?! All of that will be known soon enough.

"But before we reveal who it is, I have some more information to share about the Midnight Sun." Julius said as he begun relaying what he learned. "The leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun goes by the name of Licht, who possess a rare and powerful four leaf grimoire. He begun his terror group of mages 6 bears with it's one mission of opposing the Clover Kingdom and as of now, about 50 mages are within their ranks. The three mages that stand beneath Licht are known as the Third Eye, the ones captain Yami, Nozel, Jack, and Charlotte fought some time ago, Ryha, Vetto, and Fana. Among the ranks, their powers is by far the greatest. The one thing is common with all their members is that they harbor a deep hatred for our kingdom, it drives them in their acts against our country and their goal is replaced the Clover Kingdom with a Sovereign state. Is that correct?" he stopped with a straight lip, asking the prisoners Geork and Catherine.

"Yes." both said, still under the influence of Marx's **Memory Magic.**

"And now, for the news we've all been waiting for and wondering. Who is the traitorous captain that worked with the Eye of the Midnight Sun?" Julius asked the captains.

This news shocked the captains as their fear began to rile them up.

"But that's impossible! It can't be one of us!" shouted Rill Boismortier of Azure Deer.

"Kekeke!"Jack the Ripper laughed.

While some let out their reactions, a few were more compossed and kept their shock in check.

'I had a hunch it was one of us." Nozel thought as he kept his stern face.

'If it is true, than who could it be?" Charlotte thought.

Gueldre of the Purple Orcas just chuckled a bit and gazed around as William stood in silence, Dorothy continued to sleep. and Yami continued to smoke. The one who was shaking the most was Asta, not out of nervousness but out of anger because whoever the traitorous captain is, they are responsible for what happened to Fuegoleon.

'They're the one who caused Fuegoleon to get hurt, to be in a comma!' he thought as he clenched his hands. 'But why? What possible reason would make one of the captains become a traitor!?'

"Now then, answer my question." Julius said as he turned to Geork and Catherine. "Who is the traitor that sided with the Midnight Sun? Go on, tell us."

Everyone in the room was put on edge as the two prisoners gave the answer.

"The traitor among you is," they began in monotone voices. "The captain of the Purple Orcas, Gueldre Poizot."

This news caused everyone to let out short gasps as Gueldre tried to defend this claim.

"But that's ridiculous, are you really going to believe them? These two are apart of a terrorist group bent of destroying our way of life, only a crazy person would believe anything out of their mouths." he said as the captains nearest to him slowly back away from him. "I would never betray my kingdom or even think of doing so."

"Well, that's not entirely true." Charlotte said as she stood next to Rill, who turned to her, and Jack. "I've heard some rather interesting rumors concerning your, Gueldre."

"Really now, Charlotte?" Nozel said as he step forward. "I have heard a great deal of these rumors as well."

"No way, are you guys for real?" Rill said as he turned to the other captains.

"Uh huh. There's rumors about him every damn place." Yami said as he dug in his ear with a sleeping Dorothy next to him. "It's insane."

This caused Gueldre to flinch and step back as all the captains began to crowd in front of him.

"Now, with this news come to light, it seems they held more truth than fiction." Charlotte said.

"I always knew you were shady but this is a line I'd never thought even you would cross." Jack said as he stared at Gueldre.

"This is no time to be joking, there must be some mistake. It's obvious those two prisoners are tying to trick you!" the captain in question said as he pointed to them. "And you're failing for it! Don't you see?"

"I'm afraid that's impossible, they've been answering with nothing but honesty about the information they hold." Marx said as took a step forward with his grimoire in front of him. "Anything and everything said under my spell's command is nothing but the truth. No doubt about it."

This caused Gueldre to go even further into shock as he took many steps away from the other captains.

"There you go, hammy." Yami said as all eyes were on him.

"Hey, don't you dare call me "hammy!"" Gueldre complained as he turned to Yami.

"Hey, no need to get nervous. If you want prove you innocent, why not have mushroom head use his magic on you? Since you say you're no traitor." Yami said as he held his cigarette. "Just let him have a tiny peak, enough to prove you're innocence, right?"

Gueldre began to feel more nervous and look away as Marx spoke up and agreed with Yami

"The stupid nickname aside, I agree with captain Yami. If you believe yourself to be innocent, you shouldn't be nervous and have nothing to hide." Marxi said as Gueldre began to sweat.

"Well-I just-" he let out.

"Hey, what's wrong, hammy? Getting stage fright?" Yami teased with crossed arms.

"How disgraceful." Charlotte said about Yami's teasing but she knew Gueldre was trying to steer away from the truth.

"Such a betrayal is unforgivable. An offense of the high order." Nozel said with venom in his voice.

"So you really are a traitor!" Asta said as he took a step forward. "You bastard! How could you betray your fellow captains, betray your kingdom?!"

Gueldre took another step back and held out a hands as he pulled out his grimoire

"No, stop! This has to be a trick or a trap!" he said as he opened his grimoire. "But until I can clear my name, I'll have to flee! **Transparency Creation Magic! Invisible Mage!"**

A bright light shinned from Gueldre's grimoire as he began to disappear from the foot up until he was gone, this action alone confirmed his guilt as the Clover Kingdom traitor. This shocked everyone in the room looked around to find him.

"He vanished!" Asta let out as he continued to stare at where Gueldre was.

"So, he's making a run for it. Things just got more interesting." Yami said as he began to grip his katana, a new one that has probably put him in greater debt.

"This isn't good. As long as he's invisible, all of our magic attack will just pass right through him." Charlotte said as she relayed what she knew about Gueldre and looked around the room.

"So we're basically screwed, none of our attacks will work on him." Yami said as the other captains got ready.

"Seriously?! So he's invincible now?!" Asta exclaimed in shock until he smelled the air. "Wait."

As the captains were on edge with the traitor's disappearing act, Gueldre was still in the room and was preparing his own attack spell.

 **"Transparency Creation Magic! Invisible Troops!"** Gueldre commanded as several, armored knights with swords and shields were created and charged at the captains as Gueldre ran for the door. "That should keep them occupied for a while."

While the magic knight captains couldn't see the invisible knights, they could sense the magic they were made of and began to fight back.

"We can't let him escape!" Charlotte said as she wrapped some of the invisible knights in her briars while they heard the door close, signalling Gueldrre had escaped.

Nozel knocked them away with her **Mercury Magic** while Charlotte continued to keep them tie up more.

"Dorothy, this isn't the time to be sleeping! We have to help!" Rill said with a magic paint brush in hand to the still sleeping Dorothy.

"Kekeke. I don't suppose someone can find someone who you can't see." Jack said as he sliced several invisible knights with his **Severing Magic.**

The only one that seemed to answer was Yami, who just let out some second hand smoke.

"Yami?" William asked as he turned to him.

"Don't worry, we got him." Yami said.

"Huh, what do you mean?" William asked as the other captains listened in, having finished off the **Invisible Troops** quickly.

"Well, hammy's magic might be able to keep us from sensing him but his ki is another story. And with his unique magic and enhanced, he just might be able to find and capture him." Yami said as everyone was a bit confused before coming to a realization, Asta was gone.

Meanwhile in an empty staircase near the same moment, an invisible Gueldre was continuing to run for his life.

'Did those fools really think I would just let them capture me? With this magic, the magic that made me a captain, I'm can never be caught!' he thought as he continued to run. 'And I can't forgot my incredible business sense that made me a unstoppable tycoon. With both at my side, I am nearly untouchable in both might and wealth.'

He let out a soft chuckle as he neared the light of an exit.

'I refuse to let my story end here. And thanks to my talent in both magic and money, I'll be able to set up anew anywhere I please.' Gueldre thought as he felt the warmth of the sun.

But as he was about to fully escape to freedom, he failed to notice a shadow was zooming towards him before something jumped out of it behind him.

"FOUND YOU!" the voice let out as Gueldre was forced to turn around and see Asta in his Iron Shadow Dragon mode with a fist held back. **"Iron Shadow Dragon Crushing Fist!"**

Shadows built up in Asta's fist before he threw the attack and actually stuck Gueldre, forcing him out of his **Invisible Mage** spell.

"How?! How did you hit me and where did you even come from?!" Gueldre asked as he held his hit left arm and skid to a halt. "But that's impossible! How could you see me through my **Transparency Magic?"**

"I didn't but just because I can't see you, doesn't mean I can't smell you or sense your ki!" Asta shouted at Gueldre, shocking him with the realization of his heightened senses.

"But that's still doesn't explain how you hit me!" he shouted back, regaining his composure.

"Easy, if captain Yami can combine his ki with his **Dark Magic** , I don't see why I couldn't do the same thing with my magic! That way, even if you turn transparent again, when I hit you, I'm striking your ki with my own!" Asta shouted as he held up his right fist. "RAAAHHHH!" Asta roard before charging at the traitor.

"Even if you can hit me, there's no chance you wan win! I am a Magic Knight Captain!" Gueldre said as he created more **Invisible Troops.** "You are just some commoner with strange magic."

An **Invisible Troop** swung it's sword to attack Asta but it was met with a cross arm block that knocked Asta back, causing him to land in the hall.

'These guys are tough.' he thought before sensing one of the troops appear before him.

It swung it's sword down on him but couldn't hit Asta as the dragon boy delivered a strong uppercut and took the creation's head off, destroying it. He sensed two more at his left and quickly made his move.

 **"Iron Shadow Dragon Sword!"** he said as he summoned his blade in his left hand and sliced through the **Invisible Troops.**

"Hehehe. Just like a commoner, fighting a losing battle just to survive. It's a rather fitting look." Gueldre said with a laugh as he turned to run away.

"GGRRR! I won't let you escape!" Asta said as he destroyed three other and turned into a shadow, moving towards Gueldre and appearing in front of him while grasping his shirt to he can look him in the eye. "You're a Magic Knight Captain, one of the highest honors in the kingdom! Someone of that rank should be better than this! Shouldn't you?!" he screamed in the traitor's face.

Gueldre frowned at this, feeling tired of this boy's words, grabs his arms and throws him back.

"Alright, boy. If you wish to die even faster, then I'll oblige." he said as he pulled out his purple grimoire. "But just know, I warned you."

Asta was ready for any spell the man was about to throw before they both froze from a sudden laugh coming from the entrance where Asta was standing.

"Hello, hello." the voice said as Asta turned around, showing him that it was Rill of Azure Deer with a magic paintbrush and palette in his hands.

The white haired boy dabs the brush in the palette and an orb of multiple colors forms before heading to Gueldre in fluid, liquid like motions.

"Now, please stand still for just a moment." Rill said with closed eyes and a smile.

All Guledre could do was watch in fear as the colors began to swarm around him like a tornado, trapping him as he tried to take a few steps back. The colors then began to wrap around him and pull him into the ground while Rill moved his paintbrush in the air and Asta watched in awe.

'Whoa! What kind of magic is this?' he thought as the swirl of colors disappeared.

 **"Picture Magic. Spring of Restriction."** Rill said as the spell he cast trapped Gueldre in a spring-like well.

Gueldre struggled to try and escape but couldn't even lift a finger as Rill and Asta walked up to him.

"Wow, you sure do make a great painting, Mr Poizot." Rill said as he pointed at him with his paintbrush. "And I have the perfect name, The Drowning Captain. Nice name, huh?"

"This magic." Asta said as he gazed at the trapped Gueldre until the wall behind them exploded.

Asta turned and saw several captains standing over a pile of boulders that was once the wall.

"Honestly, Rill. You and your ridiculous antics." Nozel said as his **Mercury Magic** held a few boulders.

"Well, sorry but I couldn't let you guys stop him. You could've destroyed this whole building." Rill said as he turned around.

"Have you forgotten that his magic lets him pass through magic attack but not physical objects? So all we need to do is hit him with ordinary things." Nozel said. "And if this building must be sacrificed to harm him, then so be it. It can always be rebuilt."

"I may have not been able to battle that traitorous little ham,? "Jack said as he licked his lips and had his Severing Blades ready. "But at least I can chop him into little bit pieces." he finished licking his lips one last time.

"You do know that as captains we can't just sit around on our asses while a traitor is running around, right? We at least got to pose and catch him." Yami said with his cigarette in his mouth,

Dorothy just, somehow even after a loud explosion, continued to sleep, much to Yami's ire.

"Seriously, how can you still be sleeping?! Even if you were able to keep up, it's still weird!" Yami shouted to her.

"Such a pitiful man, running like a cowardly pig." Charlotte said as she stared at Gueldre with her briars ready. "He was just as disgusting as he was before he became a traitor." she finished as she turned her eyes to Yami and blushed a little. 'Why does Dorothy getting Yami's attention right now? Are slightly and lazy his type?' she thought.

"That's quite enough." William said as he walked out of the rubble. "Let's lift him there for now and for all we know, someone might be controlling him like a puppet."

A few moments later, Julius made himself known and walked up to Gueldre while holding a smaller version of his **Chrono Stasis** spell.

"Well, thank you all for helping to catch this traitor. If it was just me, I don't think I could've held myself back." he said with his usual smile, even though he was being a bit dark.

'They're insane, every last one of these people are insane.' Asta said with a shocked face and gaping mouth, switching off **Iron Shadow Dragon mode.** 'And yet these are the strong of all the Magic Knights, they're the captains.'

"Hey!" Rill said as he turned to Asta. "I don't know what that magic of your's is but it is awesome! And how did you know where Gueldre was and how did you break his spell?!" he asked as he got in Asta's personal space.

"Well, it's nothing special. I just used my nose to find him and my ki to hit." Asta said with sweat going down his forehead.

"Oh really?! WOW!" Rill said as he grasped Asta's hand and shook it up and down. "My name is Rill and I'm 19 years old. It's nice to meet you!"

"Um, hi. I'm Asta and I'm 15 but I can't believe you're a captain at only a few years older than me." Asta said as they continued their strange and long handshake.

"Ah, so you're only a few years younger than me. I think we would be good friends then." Rill said with a smile.

"Uh sure. It's not everyday you become friends with a captain." Asta answered as he gain a normal smile.

"Really?! Thank you! These guys, the other captains, aren't the easiest to talk to, you know?" Rill replied.

"Yeah, sometimes it's like they're-" Asta said until Yami stepped behind him.

"You know we're standing right here, right?" Yami said as he placed his hand on Asta's head. "And what were you about to call us?"

Back with trapped Gueldre, he was now being faced with everyone in front of him and Julius at the point.

"Now then, since you've done nothing but run and prove your guilt, how about you just admit to your crimes? Make things easier, huh?" Julius said with the usual smile.

-Timeskip, 1 hour later. Location, inside secret dungeon-

"Now is that all you have to say? The truth and all?" Julius asked as everyone was back inside and Gueldre was still trapped in Rill's spell but it was cut out from above.

"Yes, that is the truth and all." Gueldre said as he was under the influence of Marx's **Mémoire Absolue.**

Asta, for one, was shock for the list of his crimes while the captains keep a more composed appearance.

"Well, I gotta say, that is quite the list." Yami said as he held his cigarette from his mouth. "Beating your squad members, misappropriating of magic tools, and secretly running magic drugs. You're an even dirtier person than I thought possible. And with all that dirt, you're more of an outcast than anyone in my squad. You're a Black Ham, or should I say a Blacker Ham?"

"Do you ever stop talking, Yami?" Jack asked as he lost his smile, disgusted with Gueldre's crimes.

"Now I see why he wouldn't let Marx read his mind. His worst crime of all was abducting one of the guardian mages, the one who keep our kingdom safe. And doing business with the Eye of the Midnight Sun." Charlotte said as she saw a memory of Gueldre doing business with a hooded member. "Now we know how they got into the kingdom capital undetected."

"He was so blinded by his greed for rare items, that he was willing to do business with terrorists." Nozel said as he gazed upon Gueldre talking with two other Midnight Sun members.

"So, he's both greedy and immoral. No surprise there, is it?" Yami said as he let 2nd hand smoke.

"The Eye of the Midnight Sun most likely killed him after they abducted him." Max said as Julius walked to the captains and Asta, a frown on his face.

"The actions committed by this man are unprecedented and unforgivable. His duty as a knight was to protect the people, but he did the opposite and betrayed them. If this news were to be released the people would panic and hysteria would run rabid, so this news shall not leave this room. And take a good look at your squad mates, make sure none of them have any ties with the Midnight Sun so this will never happen again, understood?" Julius order with authority.

"Yes sir!" All but a sleeping Dorothy shouted as they gave the 3 finger salute over their chests.

As the other captains left and returned to their squads, Asta and Yami were called into Julius' office as the Wizard King was looking out the window with a forlorn look.

"My apologies for keeping you, this won't take long. It's just an awful feeling to know that someone you fought side by side with betrayed you." he started as he placed a hand on the window. "I ran full strength to get where I am, not thinking about the mistakes I made on the way."

"You keep us behind to tell your life story?" Yami asked, a little irked. "Because if that's it, I think you picked the wrong people."

Even if Yami wasn't interested, Asta paid attention to his word and figured he might learn something important that would help him on his road to being the Wizard King.

"There's one more piece of information the Midnight Sun members gave during the questioning." Julius continued as he turned to them. "Asta, do you remember the hideout they took you too after the invasion? And the stone tablet we both saw?"

"Yeah, I remember. What about it?" Asta commented and questioned.

"What about it is the stone embedded in it, the **Magic Stones** as they call them, can be used to allow someone to be reborn into their true forms with close ties to mana and give them immense power. That was the reason they attacked Fuegoleon like they did, to get the stone he wore around his neck." Julius said, shocking Asta.

"That's why they did it? So they could be reborn?" Yami commented while holding his chin. "Isn't rebirth just something from a fantasy novel?"

"I don't know for sure if it's the truth but their believe in it is strong. Strong enough for me to know that we cannot let them get anyone of the **Magic Stones** at all cost." Julius said to them.

"Uh huh and what does that have to do with us?" Yami asked.

"Four stones remain and according to our captives, they know the location of one of them." The Wizard King said.

"And that is where?" Yami asked once again.

"It's located in the Underwater Temple, one of the strong magic regions." Julius told them.

"One of the strong magic regions?" Asta asked, not knowing what they are.

Yami then grasped his head and squeezed, dissatisfied with Asta's lack of information.

"You know, if you ain't gonna use this noggin of your's, I'll get ride of it for you." Yami said with blank eyes and a threatening tone as Asta groaned.

Julius laughed at bit at the scene before explaining. "As their names suggest, strong magic regions are area where magic power is of a great caliber and magical phenomenons that happen in these areas mae them difficult to access. The most hazardous one of them, is the Underwater Temple. Think of it like an expert version of the dungeon you and your friends explored before."

"Expert?!" Asta said with a gasp as he remembered the journey through the dungeon at the kingdom border. "Then that means this one will be even harder!"

"So, what you're saying is we have to get their and get the stone before the Eye of the Midnight Sun does? That the gist of it?" Yami asked while holding his lit cigarette.

"Why yes and I believe the best candidates for this mission are none other than the Black Bulls. The reason being that a number of them unbond and unashamed of their family or social standing." Julius said as he explained that the outcasts of the Magic Knights would be perfect for this mission. "We can't forget the possibility of traitors in the order. So, will you and your squad accept the challenge?"

"Aren't you the Wizard King? Just say and we'll do it." Yami said, not caring about the importance of this mission. "But I agree with you about connections, you never know when someone you trust will stab you in the back. Not that that concerns someone like me."

IT was then Yami recalled his memories of when he first arrived in the Clover Kingdom. People didn't engage him and called him names, judging him for being not of the same land as them. Getting a grimoire that made him even more lonely due to his Dark Magic being feared. None of it bothered him but it was still a tough life to live.

"I got a grimoire like everyone else, but because I was a foreigner, they didn't bother to acknowledge me. Not like I cared and with nothing to hold me back, I looked forward to being alone." Yami said as he recalled a younger version of himself walking along side the Clover Kingdom shore. "That is until..."

He then went on to how he meet Julius, a young Magic Knight captain at the time, who was curious and ecstatic to meeting Yami and his rare **Dark Magic.** Julius tried to get Yami to join him in the knight but was constantly denied until he was offered a simple meal, dinner to be exact.

"And that was when I was stuck with ya." Yami said as he let out cigarette smoke.

As the story ended, Asta looked towards Yami with awe. It's not everyday you here the life story of your captain and how he met THE Wizard King when he was just a young captain. He then watched as Yami does the 3 finger salute over his chest.

"Everyday, I use my might and magic to show you that you weren't wrong about me and show you didn't make any mistakes." Yami said with whole heartedness.

Julius smiled at Yami and thought, 'Yami saluting, a miracle.'

"Thank you very much, Yami. I know you won't let me down. Oh and Asta." Julius said as he turned to him.

"Sir!" Asta said as he straightened himself and saluted him.

"I'm starting to think that it was fate that lead you to be in Yami's squad. Strong magical regions have strong mana barriers to keep outsiders out, but I'm sure with your **Iron Shadow mode** or that **Steel War Hammer** I was told about could possibly get you through." Julius said as Asta began to shake with excitement. "And with the experience you gained from battling the Eye of the Midnight Sun, you'll be able to handle anything there. I'll be counting on you just as much as Yami."

Asta tightened his salute and slammed his hand back into his chest, but not before covering it in a thin layer of iron to prevent an embarrassing injury and to go unnoticed.

"Yes sir! I won't let you down!" Asta shouted with a smile.

It was then Julius had a quick laugh and walked towards them.

"Such a strange one, I can see why you picked him for your squad." Julius said before he dismissed them.

Outside of a small caste like building where Asta and Yami talked with Julius, the two Black Bulls were leaving for the comfort of their bbase.

"Not bad, kid but you were a bit of a stiff back there." Yami said as he smoked his cigarette.

"Well, I guess that's expected since I've never had anyone I looked up to so much expect so much of me." Asta said as he thought back to when he had no magic less than a year ago, how everyone mocked him and expected nothing but failure. "It's feel pretty good, having someone believe of such respect believe in someone like me."

"Huh." Yami let out before slapping Asta's back very hard. "Let me tell you something, kid. The reason I let you in the squad is because I had a feeling you could cut it. So keep up the good work, kid." Yami finished, sounding since about his reason for letting Asta join.

Asta was surprised by this as a smile grew on his face toward his strange but good hearted captain.

"Yes sir!" Asta exclaimed to him.

Later, back at the Black Bull headquarters, the team had just received the news about Underwater Temple missions and the reactions were various as usual.

"WHOA HOA! We're heading to the beach, a really manly place if you ask me!" Magna said as he pumped his fists before putting his right arm over Asta. "Am I right?"

"Oh yeah! I can't wait to see the beach and ocean!" Asta said as he returned Magna's excitement.

"Aw yeah!" Manga replied before he and Asta shouted 'Beach'in unison over and over.

As they cheered, a drunk Vanessa was holding her face as she was visualizing the beach.

"Oh, there's not better feeling than a nice, cold drink on a hot day while relaxing. Hic." she said while in her usual home attire, he underwear.

Finral was imagining being swarmed by ladies and serving them hand made cocktails while he was complimenting as many of them as possible. The only one who seemed to be nervous was Noelle because of a certain topic coming up.

"Swimsuits? I know it's custom to wear one to the beach but is it really necessary?" she said while holding her blushing cheeks. "Maybe I should stay behind."

"Oh, I can only imagine all the type of seafood they can cook." Charmy said as she was drooling on a table. "Grilled by the shore to perfection with how many types of fish."

"I think this'll really increase the friendship between us and make something even greater like family." Gordon mumbled as Grey was busy blowing up a inner tube in the shape of a turtle.

"I already see you guys as family, Gordon!" Asta shouted, bringing a smile to the mumbling man's features.

While this was all going one, Yami was sitting on a couch with a fresh smoke until Gauche drew his attention.

"Captain! What souvenir would be perfect to bring back for m lovely sister?" he asked with the usual nose bleed from anything about his sister.

Luck was standing next to Gauche, throwing punches into the air before turning to Yami.

I heard sharks are suppose to be really strong! Is that true?" he asked, his **Lightning Magic** sparking up around him.

"I hope so so they can eat you both!" Yami shouted back at the two idiots.

Back with Noelle, she was still mumbling on about wearing a swimsuit and worrying what a certain dragon slayer would think of her in it.

"I don't know if I can do. A swimsuit is just not for me." she said until Vanessa spoke up.

"If you need one, you can borrow on of mine." she said as she held up a _very_ inappropriate black, two piece swimsuit that only cover the "sensitive" arrives of woman's privates.

This caused Noelle to scream with a giant blush on her face as the Luck, Finral, and Magna continued to chant 'beach' while Asta was looking towards Noelle while Vanessa was holding up the swimsuit. He gained a giant blush on his face as he began to imagine the two and two together until Yami had enough.

"SHUT UP!" he shouted as he smashed the wall behind him and Grey finished filling the inner tube. "The reason we're heading to the beach is for work, not for play! Understood?" he reminded them grimly.

"Yes, sir." Everyone said after they quickly got down in a row and on their knees in front of him.

"The Underwater Temple, I can't wait to see it for myself." Asta said with a smile as he gazed up and thought about it.


	40. Beach Day Mission

**Devilslayer: You'll see.**

 **BanRedfox: I hope it will.**

 **TheLightFairyHearts: Thanks.**

 **Guest: I'll get to it eventually.**

 **Minecraftfan: Thanks.**

After going over the details of the mission, and the Vanessa insisting on everyone buying swimsuits for it, the Black Bulls were up bright and early for the mission to the Underwater Temple and outside of their base, ready to depart.

"Alright, guy! Everyone ready to roll?!" Magna shouted, not even feeling the early morning effect him.

Everyone else could say otherwise as Vanessa was up, dressed, and holding her broom stick while holding her left hand to hold a yawn. Gauche didn't reply to him as he held up the picture of his sister, Marie, he has on him at all times.

"Forgive me, my dearest sister. How I wish I could take you with me so I can show you the beach." he said to it, actually not getting a nose bleed for once.

"I wonder which sea animal is stronger, a whale or a shark?" Luck as himself as he was his usual, always energetic self, possibly a side effect of his **Lightning Magic.**

"I heard shark skin is tougher due to it's rough texture, even though it looks smooth." Gordon mumbled an answer to Luck while he was holding the innertube Grey blew up, but his response wasn't heard by Luck or anybody except for Asta.

Charmy was still sleepy, so she used her **Cotton Magic** to make a fluffy, floating bed to snooze on.

"What are you two doin?!" Magna asked as he pointed an accusing finger at Noelle and Asta, who were sitting on his Crazy Cyclone. "You can't just plop down on my Cyclone without asking first!"

"Well, since my magic is too ancient, it can't be recognized by the brooms. It can't fly one." Asta said as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"As embarrassing as it is, I can't control my magic to properly fly one." Noelle said as he flipped her hair back. "Or did you forget, simpleton?"

"OH! Well i you gonna be like that again, then catch a ride with someone else!" Magna complained before pointing to Asta. "And you! You said you have dragon magic, so why don't you try and grow wings?!" he told Asta, joking/yelling at him.

"Grow wings?" Asta mumbled quietly as he held his chin. "Could I really do that?" he mumbled as he thought of the concept of flying with iron wings.

"A royal is gracing you with the honor of riding your broom. you should be grateful." Noelle said to Magna as Asta got off of Crazy Cyclone, drawing their attention. "Asta?" she asked.

"What's up, man?" Magna asked as he saw Asta step 5 footsteps away.

"Just want to try something." Asta told them as he crouched and form two small magic circles on his back. "Okay, I can do this!" he told himself as he closed his eyes, focused on what he wanted to create, and started flowing magic into the circles.

The dirt around Asta started to kick up as something started to form from his back. This began to get everyone's, except a sleeping Charmy, attention.

"GGGRRR! **Iron Dragon Wings!** " Asta shouted as two metallic wings took form and spread from his back, shining in the early light of day.

This took everyone for a loop as they had just witness the Black Bull dragon boy actually make dragon wings, making him even more of a dragon to them then he was before. Asta gazed at his wings and gave a few test flaps, making sure they can move properly and it wasn't too uncomfortable for him. After he was done, he jumped into the air and gave flying a try as he pour some magic into his wings and started flapped them in a rhythm. With some difficulty, Asta was able to stay in the air and actually fly, surprising his fellow bulls.

"So cool!" Luck said with excitement!

"You actually grew wings?!" Magna shouted in surprise.

"Wow." Vanessa said as she and Gauche, who stared for a second before returning to his picture of Marie, saw them.

"That's totally amazing Asta!" Gordon mumbled with a smile.

"Amazing." Noelle said as she gazed at him and his wings, seeming like an real, life angel.

After his test flight was over, Asta lowered himself to the ground but staggered a bit as he landed on the ground.

"Okay, wings work but I gotta work on the landing." Asta mumbled to himself before looking around. "Hey, where's captain Yami? Is he still sleeping?"

Finral, who approached and stood next to him, answered his question.

"No, he left earlier actually. Said something about checking on something." he said as he held his broom.

"Yami? Up early? I guess miracles do occur." Vanessa said as she stood behind Crazy Cyclone. "Captain Yami is actually working."

"As expected of our Yami!" Magna said with pride before he climbed on his Crazy Cyclone. "Alright, Black Bulls, the beach is awaiting!"

Magna then started pouring his magic power into is broom as he was about to take off, until Noelle stepped off Crazy Cyclone and went to Asta, who noticed and grew curious.

"What's up, Noelle?" he asked her as she stop and gazed at his wings.

"Hmm, since it seems you're able to fly on your own, I've decided to allow you to carry me to our destination." she told his as she had her eyes closed and looked away, hiding her blush from him.

"Uh, carry you?" Asta said as he blushed a bit at the thought. "Uh, s-sure."

Noelle said nothing else as he eyes shot up, surprised and secretly glad Asta accepted her declaration to fly her to the beach. She quickly composed herself and walked towards Asta, who bent down a bit and had his arms open to carry her. She hook one leg over his left arm as she rest her back into his right before hooking the other leg, allowing Asta to gain a firm grip as he stood up start but still held a blush.

"Well, now that that is over...CRAZY CYCLONE!" Magna shouted as he charged magic back into his broom. "Let's move out!"

He finished as Crazy Cyclone flew off, signalling the other Black Bulls to fly after on their brooms except for Asta, who was flapping his metallic wings while carrying Noelle, and Charmy, who was still napping on her **Cotton Magic** cloud that was now flying with the group. The destination, the Seaside Village in Raque, and their mission, retrieve the magic stone from the Underwater Temple before the Eye of the Midnight Sun, was now underway.

-Timeskip, unknown-

The Black Bulls had been flying to the Seaside Village for sometime now and were going a a moderate pace but this garnered a question from the flying dragon bull.

"Hey, Finral, you wouldn't have by chance been to the Seaside Village before have? If you have, we could just use your **Spacial Magic!** " Asta shouted to him a bit as he continued to flap his wings, wanted to get to the village faster than just flying.

"Afraid not, Asta! This'll be my first visit and since it's my I can only portal to places I've been before, that mean I can't portal there now!" Finral replied.

Gauche groaned at this while Charmy sleep/flew behind him.

"If that the case, then what good are you? Now, we stuck flying there like this." he complained, infuriated Final once again.

"Dammit! Do you not remember that I am you superior?!" he complained to the mirror man as Vanessa flew behind him.

"Well, now there's a shock. I would've thought it was your dream to find a large place with all sorts of babes in bikinis." Vanessa commented as she flew with her legs on the left side of her broom.

"Hmm, though that may seem like me, I find half of the reward is found in the anticipation." Finral said with a smile and closed eyes. "And this has long been anticipated. So get ready, lovely ladies!" he said with a wave of the arms.

"Wait a moment." Noelle, who was still in Asta's arms, said, drawing everyone attention. "Aren't we missing someone? That person with the smoke always coming from their mouth?"

This got everyone wondering as they looked around for the person missing, the big one know as Grey. Their answer came soon as Gordon, who was still holding Grey innertube spoke up.

"I'm over here!" he surprisingly said aloud, causing everyone to turn to him.

As everyone fully laid their eyes on Gordon, he exploded in a puff of smoke and revealed to actually be Grey in disguise with some sort of **Transformation Magic.**

"Choo." he let out as smoke came out of his mouth.

"Grey? So that's why Gordon smelled a bit different today. Because it wasn't Gordon." Asta said, explaining how he could tell a person by their scent.

"Choo." Grey let out as he flew lower before transforming back into a replica of Gordon before flying high.

"And since that's not the real Gordon, we must've left him behind back at base." Asta said, feeling a little bad for unintentionally leaving a fried and fellow knight behind.

Meanwhile, back at the Black Bull base, the real Gordon was standing in front of the door holding a bag of supplies for both the mission and the beach waiting for everyone until he realized he was left behind and dropped the back on the ground.

"Okay, it should be just up ahead." Magna said, not really phased about leaving Gordon behind.

'Is he really not upset?' Asta thought as Magna didn't appear so before asking, "What should be ahead?"

"The ocean, Rasta. It should be coming up soon. I can't wait to see it, be the first time I've ever laid eyes upon it." Magna said as he was excited to see it for the first time.

"Yeah, me too!" Asta said with excitement as his grip on Noelle, who had her eyes closed, tighten a bit, causing the girl to jump a bit but it was unnoticed. "After all this flying, I know it's gonna be worth it. Speaking of which, is that it right there?" he asked as he saw a large body of water before him.

"Hmm. Maybe, though it could just be a really big lake." Magna said as he saw it.

"You dolt, Asta is right. That is the ocean, all of that blue right there." Noelle said as she confirmed Asta's question.

"Wh-Whoa!" Asta exclaimed as Magna sweat a bit.

"This is it, the ocean?" he whispered to himself.

"It's even bigger than I imagined!" Asta let out as a smile started to form.

"Even cool than I ever imagined." Magna said as he started to smile too.

"OCEAN AHOY!" Asta and Magna let out as the Black Bulls flew closer.

After landing near the beach and changing into their swimsuits, the Black Bulls began the first part of their mission. Enjoying the beach with the other multitude of patrons currently on the beach.

"Choo." Grey let out as he returned to his normal body and relaxed in his innertube in the water, drawing looks from 2 boys near him.

"Wow, so this is the beach and the ocean!" Asta said in excitement while wearing blue swim trunks, Nero currently sitting on his head. "I can't believe how big it is!" he said as he looked left and right.

'I never thought I'd see it but I wish the other from home could see it!' Asta thought as he wished his family back at the Hage church/orphanage could be at the beach with him, even the old man.

"HEY! Who are you calling old?!" the old priest from Asta's thought shouted.

"I could just see the smiles on their faces, they'd have the best time here." Asta said with a smile at the thought.

Not too far from Asta, Noelle was currently hiding behind a palm tree in a light green two piece swimsuit with a scale pattern and hanging gems. She was currently wondering what Asta was smiling about.

"What if that goof smiling about?" she said out loud until a thought came to her. 'Wait, he isn't thinking about that kiss from her, he is?' Noelle thought out as she remembered Rebecca giving him a kiss on the cheek as a reward for saving her siblings.

'If he is, he should get over it already.' she thought in jealousy before gasping and looking down. 'Not that I care in the slightest if he kisses me!'

Noelle then looked away from Asta and put her back to the tree as she looking at her swimsuit, debating if he would like her in the swimsuit or not.

'Maybe it time to give him something to look at, hopefully that idiot won't get the wrong idea. I don't want him to go for me, I just want to show him I'm better looking than that Rebecca!' Noelle thought, tricking herself into thinking it was just for pride instead of potential love.

As Noelle was about to step put, she quickly pulled back due to embarrassment but unfortunately for her, Asta's enhanced hearing picked up the sound of crunching sand.

"Huh?" Asta let out as he turned around an saw no one but he could smell someone behind the tree, someone familiar. "Noelle?" he mumbled in a low voice as he went to the tree.

'It's too embarrassing, I can't do it!' Noelle thoughtm doubting herself. 'But I want him to see me! What am I gonna do?!'

She continued to have doubts about showing herself to Asta but it didn't matter as a voice drew her attention.

"N-No-Noelle?" a voice said, drawing Noelle attention to her right and causing her to blush.

As soon as the looked, she saw the object of her conundrum, Asta standing less than a foot from her and staring at her in her swimsuit. A blush was bright on his face as well as he gazed at her from top to back and back. He let out a stutter as smoke seemed to be coming from his head, not knowing what to properly think about something like this until it slipped out.

"Pr-Pr-Pretty!" he stuttered in a low voice but was loud enough for Noelle to hear and her blush to grow brighter.

"Pr-Pretty?" she repeated in a low voice, screaming internally with joy that Asta thought she looked good in her new swimsuit.

Neither of them said anything as they just stared at each other for a few seconds until a certain manly Black Bull shouted out.

"Oh yeah! I bet you guys got nothing on this!" Magna shouted out, drawing Asta and Noelle attention.

What they saw before them was a strange sight as the only thing Magna was wearing besides his sunglasses was an old style swimsuit, which was mainly just a white cloth covering his privates as the rest was twisted around his waist.

"That's your swimsuit?! A little bold isn't it?!" Asta said as Noelle was shocked at it.

"I know, right? I thought about going traditional but I took a page from captain Yami and decided to go old school with a loincloth!" Magna proudly said.

"That is so lame." Noelle commented, getting over the shock of the sight.

Manga then turned his direction to the ocean and lifted his right arm into the air.

"And now, it's time to swim in a sea as big as captain Yami's heart!" he exclaimed as he chopped to the ocean. "You two ready?!"

"Oh yeah! I can't wait!" Asta said in excitement of swimming in the ocean for the first time.

Noelle said nothing but silently agreed to it as Vanessa walked towards them.

"Hey boy, have you seen my new swimsuit?" she said as she held her left hip, posing in her black bikini. "What do you think? Good, huh?" she asked as she put her right hand behind her head.

The reaction she was looking for didn't seem to come as they just stared at her.

"Actually, that isn't any different than what you usually wear back home." Magna said, reminding her she just went around in her underwear back at base.

"Yep." Asta said as he and Noelle nodded in agreement.

This didn't seem to phase Vanessa as she just shrugged at their response.

"Oh, my. How could I think that a virgin street punk like you would understand?" she said to him with her holding smile.

"I am not a virgin!" Magna shout as he didn't see Luck, in light gray swim trunks, walking behind him.

"Hey, Magna, how about a race?" Luck asked as he used his magic to light the back of Magna's loincloth on fire.

This caused the **Fire Magic** user to scream in pain and take off into a run, with a laughing Luck right behind him to his right.

"Wow, Magna's on fire!" Asta joked as he, Noelle, and Vanessa saw the two run down the beach.

As the two ran down the beach, they passed Gauche, who had a magic, floating mirror to his right while making a sand sculpture of his sister, Marie. It was a perfect replicate, smile and all, as the older brother turned to the noise.

"Keep it down! And stop acting like children!" he shouted to Luck and Magna before turning to the mirror, gaining a nose bleed as the person in it was his real little sister, Marie. "It's all down, Marie. Do you like the sculpture I made for you?"

"It's amazing, big brother." Marie said through the mirror. "Can you turn me around? I wanna see the ocean."

"Anything for you, little sister." Gauche said with a smile as he turned the mirror, showing her the ocean and everyone currently playing in it. "Well? What do you think?"

"It's beautiful, really beautiful!" Marie said with a smile.

"Next time I get a chance, I'll bring you here and we can play in the water together." Gauche said, laughing a bit at the thought of making happy memories with is sister, Marie.

As Marie continued to enjoy the view of the ocean, she soon caught sight of the boy she met not too long ago, Asta, standing in the water with his friend, Noelle.

"Brr! It's colder than I thought it'd be." Asta said as the water went to his ankles.

"That's natural in someone's first time here." Noelle said from behind Asta.

"Hey, it's Asta! Do you think he can come with us when you bring me to the beach?" Marie asked, not seeing Gauche loss his smile and growl at Asta.

Asta soon got an idea and put his hand in the water, turned around and threw some water at Noelle, causing her to jump back in surprise.

"Hehehe!" Asta chuckled as his hunch was right, it was fun to splash water at Noelle.

"Oh, so that's how you want to play?" Noelle mutter as she splashed Asta back.

This caused Asta to stop chuckling as the water hit his face, drawing his attention to turn to Noelle before he started laughing again but this time Noelle joined him. Not long after, Asta splashed back in which soon turned into a water fight between the two.

"Anyone who tempts my little sister must die." Gauche said as he gained a grim look, summoning a magic mirror that showed a reflection of Asta splashing Noelle.

"Hahaha! Got you!" he said to a smiling at Noelle, who smiled back.

His smile soon disappeared as his eyes caught Gauche with a magic mirror in front of him.

 **"Mirror Magic. Reflect Ray."** he commanded as he fired a white beam at Noelle's back, knowing it was actually meant for him.

"Get down!" Asta said as he grabbed Noelle's arms and pulled her down with him, saving her from the magic beam.

"Grr!" Gauche let out as he saw his attack for Asta missed.

As the beam faded, Asta opened his eyes and saw the position he and Noelle were in. Time seemed to freeze as he saw that Noelle was laying on his chest, gazing into his eyes with a blush on her face, one that he shared. As they continued to lock eyes, the other Black Bulls went about their own activities but considering how they were, it wasn't any different than when they were back at base.

Finral, in green swim trunks, was planning to flirt with multiple women, Grey had transformed into him due to him asking for help, Charmy, in a blue and white line one piece, was blindfolded with a bat in hand and a watermelon in front of her.

"Feel the food, visualize it. No one else know food like you." she told herself as she neared the melon.

Behind the melon smasher was Vanessa, sitting on a lounge chair and drinking, like she usually did, and Nero, sitting on fluff cushions and sleeping, in the shade of a tree.

"Ahh! There's just something about drinking on the beach that makes booze taste so much better." she said with a bottle of booze in her right hand before turning back to Charmy. "A little to the right, Charmy. You're almost there."

She then turned to the sound of sand crunching and saw an exact double of herself, Grey, sitting on the lounge chair next to her's.

"Oh hey, weren't you helping Finral with getting ladies?" Vanessa asked her doppelganger/Grey.

"I was for a bit but that got boring, so I ditched him." doppelganger Vanessa/Grey told the original before shouting to Charmy. "A bit more to the left!"

"No, the right, Charmy!" Vanessa countered as the food lover in question was moving back and forth across the sand, still a ways away from the melon.

'Almost there, I can feel it!' Charmy said as she focused. 'Just a few more steps!'

Though she was confident, Charmy wasn't as in tune with food as she thought because she ended up walking past the watermelon she wanted to smash.

Back with the two newbie bulls, after getting out of the water, were sitting on the shore line with the blushes still on their faces. Neither of them said as thing as they were still embarrassed about the little moment they had, even if Asta explained it was to keep Gauche from blasting her when he was actually gunning for him.

"So um, I just bought-" Noelle said as she wanted to start a new topic but failed due to one person.

"Gotcha!" Charmy said she lifted her bat to smash what she thought was the watermelon, Asta's head.

But that shout was enough for Asta to instinctive go on the defensive and cover the top of his head in iron scales. the bat broke in two as Asta and Noelle turned to the petie girl.

"Charmy! Just what the heck are you doing, hitting people on the head with a stick?! That is not cool!" Asta said as he got close to her face.

Charmy lifted the blindfold from her eyes and just smiled at Asta.

"Oh, hey Asta." she said so calmly.

"HEY?! That's all you have to say for hitting me?!" he shouted back as Noelle just watched from the side.

Before Noelle could speak, another Asta came from behind and grabbed the original's shoulder.

"Hey look. I almost forgot how gross it was transforming into you was because of your muscles." Grey said with Asta's smile as she laughed a bit.

"Really? You gotta put that **Transformation Magic** to better use!" Asta complained to Grey. "It's such as waste."

The chaos that was the Black Bulls squad soon ensued as they started shouted every which way with Asta and Grey arguing about Grey's magic, Noelle trying to get Asta's attention, Luck and a still on fire Magna running past them, and Charmy just standing there with her child like smile. No matter what Noelle said, she just couldn't get Asta's attention again, so she tried to get it by force.

"Grr! Will you just pay attention to me?!" Noelle asked as she fire her **Water Magic** at Asta.

Her spell seemed to almost work if it wasn't for the fact that she didn't have her wand, so the spell went to hit Magna instead of Asta, putting out the fire on his swimsuit.

"Seriously?! Can you still not control your magic?!" Magna said with slight relieve that the fire was out. "I'm mean I'm glad the fire's out but still."

"Aw!" Luck groaned as his 'race' with Magna was over.

"I don't have my wand at the moment, so I can only use a defense spell." she said with a smirk, not showing the frustration of not being able to aim.

"That's not something to brag about!" Magna told her as his loincloth suddenly snapped, falling to the sand. "Whoops!"

This caused Noelle to scream, drawing Asta's attention as he saw the reason why.

"DUDE!" Asta said as he rushed over and covered Noelle's eyes, not wanted her to see what shouldn't be seen until she's ready.

As her eyes were closed, Noelle still shot another magic blast but this time it actually hit, where it was was Magna's privates.

"UHH!" Magna groan as he fell to the ground.

"HAHAHAHA!" Luck laughed as he saw Magna fall to the ground.

Noelle then decided to look completely away from Magna but then met Asta's eyes once again. This time, however, Noelle quickly moved away from Asta and went to talk to Vanessa, blushing brightly once more. As she neared the senior Black Bull, she heard two voice behind her the just screamed 'losers.'

"Hello there, ladies. Lovely day for the beach, isn't it?" commented a pudgy male with squinted eyes and red spikish hair.

"Do you have a moment to chat with us?" asked the male next to him with squinted eyes, black curly hair, and a slight fitter but still a bit pudgy body.

This caused Noelle to turn and reply to them,

"Not interested, bugs." she said with a flat tone of voice, causing them to freeze and groan a bit.

Not far from them was their "friend," Sekke of the Praying Mantises in a bathing suit, was watching them try and flirt with the girls at his request. It wasn't until she turned to his friends, that he immediately recognized her.

'Wait a minute, she's that girl from the Black Bulls.' Sekke thought to himself. 'And if she's here, then that means...'

Sekke never finished his thoughts as he heard commotion coming from behind him, forcing him to turn and see a scary and weird sight. The sight before him was a smiling Luck and screaming Asta, who had a watermelon placed on his head, running from a naked Magna who wanted to roast Luck, a non blindfolded Charmy aiming to smash the watermelon, and an angry Gauche with a magic mirror out and ready to kill Asta.

 **"Flame Magic! Explosive Scatter Shot!"** Magna commanded as he tried to kill Luck.

 **"Mirror Magic! Reflect Ray!"** Gauche commanded as he tried to kill Asta.

Both attacks fired but missed there intended targets and hit an unprepared Sekke.

"AH! UH!" he grunted as the attack hit him, covering him in smoke and blocking him from their eye sight.

Sekke could only watch as the horde of bulls soon collided with him and launched him into the sea.

"Oh jeez." both Sekke's "friends" commented as they watched him land in the water.

Back with the Black Bulls, they were still running but were curious to who they hit.

"Anyone got any idea who I just hit?" Magna asked, still streaking down the beach.

"No." Luck said with his smile still strong.

"I don't know but I think I knew em." Asta said as he stopped running, allowing Charmy to jump on his head and eat the watermelon.

"Yummy!" Charmy said as she bit right into it, rind and all.

It was then that Asta had had enough of the silliness and remembered the true mission at hand.

"Okay that's enough!" he shouted before pulling Charmy off of his head. "We need to focus and remember why we're here! We need to find the magic stone before the Midnight Sun, so we need to stop fooling around and get going now to beat them to it!"

It was then that Asta was kicked in the back and into the ground by Yami, in his normal attire.

"And what's your excuse?" he asked with the usual cigarette in mouth.

"O-oh, hey captain Yami." Asta said as Yami annoyingly glared at all of them.

A matter of moments later, Yami stood before all of the bulls after burying them up to ther necks in sand. From Yami's right to left, it was Vanessa, Luck, Gauche, Noelle, Asta, Finral Charmy, Magna, and Grey.

"Alright, ya bunch of idiots, listen good. While you all were busy prancing around, I was digging us up some intel." Yami told them, much to their surprise.

"Turns out, the Underwater Temple is right under the ocean around here. But because of it's mana driven water, even a skilled mage can't get through easily. And the only time it's weak enough to even have a sliver of a chance of getting through it during a full moon." Yami said more, surprised his squad.

"He actually doing his job?! And he good at it?!" Magna, Charmy, Finral, and Asta sfouted in surprise, impressed with his skills in information gathering.

'Now that's more like it!' Asta thought, still shocked in the face but glad to see the serious side of his captain once again.

His happiness soon left as Yami had stomped on his face, causing him to activate his scales to lessen the damage.

"I swear one of these day, I am going to kill all of you slackers." Yami told them as he allied pressure to his foot and stomp Asta face a few times before pulling his foot back, leaving a boot print on Asta's face and a bit of a bloody nose. "Back to the info, like it's name says, the temple in underwater on the ocean floor. That's where Noelle and her **Water Magic** will come in. She's going to give us a lift."

"Huh?" Noelle let out in surprise. "But sir, my control over my magic still needs improvement, especially for something such as this. I'm sorry but I can not do this." she said as she began to look down in doubt and sadness. "It would be better if you got someone else to help you because if I were to fail with a mission as important as this.." she went on as her eyes started to get glossy.

"We'd all die." Yami said interrupting her. "If you can't do it, we all get consumed by the current and croak. So don't mess up, this is a one of a kind mission given to us by the Wizard King himself, so it's up too you and you alone, got it?"

Yami then pointed to the sky, showing them the early moon out.

"The next full moon is a week away, you have until then to push past you limits and gain control. Understand?" Yami told her, causing a drop of sweat to role down her head.

Later, in the cool evening, Noelle, in her normal clothes, was busy training to perfect her only spell, **Sea Dragon's Lair** , so the Black Bulls can enter the Underwater Temple successfully. Though the process was strong, the results ended the same way with the spell collapsing on Noelle, but she wasn't ready to quit and kept trying until a certain dragon slayer was training as well with his new wings and accidentally fired iron feathers into Noelle's spell, causing her to lose focus and collapse the spell.

"So, you came to train too?" Asta asked, in a sleeveless shirt and his normal pants and shoes, as she and Noelle sat on a bolder in the field Noelle was training in.

"I didn't come here to train, royals don't need to train. I simply came to test my spells." Noelle said as she closed her eyes.

"If you say so but hey, since we're both here, how about we train together?" Asta asked with a smile, standing up and turning to her. "That way, if you go out of control, I can help try and stop it.

"Oh please. Like I'd let something like that happen again." Noelle said as she looked away but blushed when she was sure he wasn't looking.

'Just us? Alone?' Noelle asked herself, nervous about being alone with him even after what happened earlier today.

She cracked a smile as she remembered those moments and turned back to him.

"If you insist, then let's train." she said, meeting his smile.

"Okay, then let's get start-" Asta stopped talking as he started hearing beautiful singing. "Hey, do you hear that?" he said as he turned to the left.

"Hear what?" Noelle asked before listening closely and finally hearing the singing too.

"It's coming from over there." Asta said as he pointed towards the woods. "Let's go check it out."

Noelle nodded to Asta as he turned and pick her up before he started flying to the source. A few minutes passe before Asta found the source and landed near it, putting Noelle down ad they came face to face with the source of the singing. The source of it was a young woman with black hair in a long pony tail wearing a ocean theme white dress, around her were floating water bubbles as she continued singing.

* * *

Side Notes: I decided to change some things and put some Asta and Noelle moments in, tell me if you like them.

OC Spell #7

Iron Dragon Wings: Channeling magic into two spots into his back, Asta is able to create large wings made from light iron to allow flight. The long feathers allow Asta to launch them as projectiles.

Inspiration: Angel from X-Men.

Reasoning: Allows Asta to finally fly without the use of a broom and attack from a distance while in flight.

Other OC Spells

1\. Iron Dragon Kunai. Metal Storm: Launching multiple iron kunai at once towards a target. Created in Chapter 10.

2\. Iron Dragon Sword. Spinning Slash: When air born ,transforms leg into iron sword, with spikes spinning, and give self a spin with plummeting to target. Created in Chapter 13.

3\. Iron Dragon Cage: Use as a shield or trap, user thrusts arms into the ground and summons multiple Iron Clubs to form a pyramid around self or target. Created in Chapter 21.

4\. Iron Shadow Dragon Crushing Fist: Used in Iron Shadow Dragon mode. Fusing any amount of shadow magic into the Iron Dragon Hard Fist, it delivers a greater blow with more power. Created in Chapter 21.

5\. Iron Shadow Dragon Sword. Slashing Wave: Used in Iron Shadow Dragon mode. Infusing Shadow Magic into the sword allows it to send a flying slash attack towards opponents. Created in Chapter 25.

6\. Advanced Dragon Slayer Secret Art. Karma Demon Steel War Hammer: Used in Iron Shadow Dragon mode. Combining iron and shadows before willing it to become a type of mimic steel in the shape of a hammer head before delivering a devastating blow capable of breaking any defense or binding. Even seals. Created in Chapter 37.


	41. A True Family

**Devilslayer: I'll give it a try.**

 **bulk Locke the the grim head: Glad to be working again, even if it takes a while. I can't wait to do that battle too. Also, Natsu did have a Dragon Wing spell so did Wendy, don't know why Gajeel didn't think of one.**

 **TheLightFairyHearts: Thanks and you will.**

 **Drenix Warriorknight: This is a GREAT idea but I don't think I'm the right one for it.**

 **jairoesme: I do too.**

 **helkil: Didn't I already say there would be no seed? Seriously, I do not remember.**

 **Iron Dragon Asta Opening: Same as Opening 4 except a few changes. Asta is not holding swords, a dragon of yellow light flies over him, after all the Black Bull grimoires pass it shows Asta's Dragon Slayer circle, at the end of the bull roll call Asta flashes being in dark scales and white eyes, Asta is shown without swords as all of the bulls face a big Vetto, and instead of swinging a sword, Asta clashes an Iron Scale covered fist with Vetto's Bear Claw.**

Back at the beach cliff, Asta and Noelle were still starring at the mysterious girl as she continued to sing her beautiful song with magic bubbles still floating around her. They couldn't help but gaze in awe at her beautiful voice and how she looked in the light of the moon.

'Such a beautiful sound, like out of a dream.' Noelle thought in awe. 'Is she from around here and are these bubbles her doing?' she thought in curiosity of both her origins and the bubbles around her.

"Is she an ocean spirit?" Asta asked with stars in his eyes as his wings disappeared.

The sound of both Asta's voice and his wings vanishing altered the girl as she stopped singing and opened her eyes, revealing them to be red, and seeing that she had a live audience.

"AAHH!" she let out as she held her smiling face with a small blush. "Oh my gosh! Did you hear that?!"

'That was unexpected.' Noelle and Asta thought as the girl laughed a bit.

"Well, can't change it now." she said as she jumped off of a boulder she was standing on. "You guys wanna be friends?"

As she landed and walked towards with while singing a little tune, they could see a grimoire pouch on her left hip. Telling them she could use magic.. "Do, do, do, do, do."

'Friends?' they both thought at the same time again.

"Well, I suppose I should introduce myself. My name's Kahono and you?" the girl, now known as Kahono, asked.

"My name is Noelle, and this muscle head is Dorksta." Noelle said before pointing to Asta, who reeled back at the insult.

"Hey! My name is not Dorksta! And I am not a muscle head!" Asta yelled back, even thought he does possess muscles.

"Well, Noelle and Dorksta. What strange names." Kahona said, believing Noelle's teasing name for Asta.

"Come on Don't tell me you believe her!" Asta told her as she leaned forward in confusion. "She just called me that as a joke, my real name is Asta."

"Okay then, nice to meet you Asta." Kahona said with a smile.

"So, could you tell us why you're out here so late, Kahono?" Noelle asked, wondering why anyone else beside her and Asta were here.

"Just singing a bit." she replied with an innocent smile.

"We can figure that much." Noelle said in a flattish voice.

"This place is just perfect to practice my singing voice. The atmosphere and acoustics are perfect!"Kahona said as she gestured towards the area.

"Practicing? For what?" Noelle asked in curiosity

"For my dream of course!" Kahona replied as she turned to Noelle and Asta with bright eyes. "With my practices in my singing, dancing, and spell casting, I want to become an idol!" she said as she imaging herself on stage singing in front of a large crowd.

"An idol?" They asked with flat faces, not knowing what that was.

"HUH?! Please tell me this is a joke?" Kahono asked them.

"Nope." Asta and Noelle replied.

"But from what I've heard, they're well known throughout the Common and Noble Realms. You know, idols?!" Kahono told them, hoping they'd figure it out.

"Uh..." but it failed as they still had no idea.

Kahono then went into a brief but informative explanation on what she knew about idols, that they were so good at singing, dancing, and spells, that people wanted to be like them. She told them it was her dream to become a huge idol and to get crazy rich from it.

"That's your reason? If you were a royal like me, money is too much of a handful. It just gets in the way of things." Noelle said with her right hand on her hip and her left hand doing a wave.

"Well, that's where you're wrong to me, Noelle." Asta said as he raised his fist. "To anyone but a royal, money is a big deal. Without it, you couldn't buy food with it like the pot-potatoes back home."

"Even so, you could just eat a steak instead." Noelle replied with closed eyes.

This causes Asta to groaned and falls to his knees.

"Royals..." Asta let out, knowing that those of a high lifestyle have finer foods and other things to rely on than what he grew up with.

Though Noelle didn't show it, she did not like seeing Asta so sad from the social class difference concerning money.

"See? Money is everything! Thanks for agreeing with me!" Kahono said as she shook his hand very fast with both of her's. "You're the best, Dorksta!"

"Please, don't call me that!" Asta said as he just let her shake his hand.

"Sorry about that Dorksta!" Kahono said, not realizing what she said.

"It's Asta!" he corrected her.

"Right sorry." Kahono said to him before dawning a serious face and leaned forward a bit, staring at him. "Wait a minute."

"What? Is something wrong?" Asta asked as he backed up a bit.

"Your muscles seem tired, Dorksta." Kahono said as she leaned back.

"I said my name-" Asta was about to say before he caught what she was saying. "Uh yeah, I was training a bit before coming here."

"That explains it. By my eyes, you're muscles seem to be holding onto some fatigue and I can only guess it hurts a bit when you move?" Kahono diagnosed, seeming to be an expert in this.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Asta asked, curious to how she could tell his body was a bit sore just by looking at it.

"It's my gift, of course." Kahono answered with a smile.

"Gift?" Asta and Noelle asked as they both stared at her.

"Here, let me help." Kahono said as she started to sing. **"Song Recovery Magic. Healing Lullaby."**

Her singing voice rang through the night air once more as he body glowed and bubbled started to appear again. The bubbles soon formed around Asta as his body started to glow as well.

"Whoa!" Asta let out as he gazed at his body.

'She pretty good.' Noelle thought as she watch Kahono use her magic, seeing the bubbles moves with great precision onto Asta' body. 'It takes a skilled touch to direct magic so accurately.'

The glow on Asta's body lasted a few seconds before Kahono stopped singing, signalling the glow to fade from both of them. She gave a giggle as Noelle step forward to ask,

"Well? Feel any different?"

Asta gazed around his body before lifting up his arms and raising his feet, feeling the mild soreness completely gone.

"Wow! It's gone! All the soreness vanished into thin air!" Asta said before he jumped a few times. "And I feel so light, my fatigue is completely gone! Whatever you did, it's amazing, Kahono!" Asta said as he stopped jumping and turned to her.

"I never knew someone could use **Song Recovery Magic** before." Noelle said as she turned to Kahono, who smiled while watching Asta continued to exam and test his formerly sore body.

"I'm so glad you're better, Asta." she said before holding out her right hand. "And that'll be 100 yule. please."

Asta stopped his examining and testing and turned to the Song Magic user in shock.

"100 yule?! You want payment!?" he said as she reeled her hand back and turn away with her eyes shut.

"Just joking!" she said with closed eyes.

"Good." Asta said as he sighed in relief until Kahono turned back to him.

"Joking again!" Kahono said as she held out her hand again with her left closed.

"Seriously?!" Asta said as he teeth sharpened and his fist clenched shut.

"I did say 'money is everything.'" Kahono said with both hands, palms on her cheeks, to her face and stars in her eyes.

Asta grumbled a bit as he pulled out his money pouch and fished out 100 yule for the song girl.

"Here!" he let out as she took the money.

"Thank you, and if you ever require another one of my Healing Lullabies, just ask!" Kahono said with a smile and star in her right eye, the left eye being closed and her left palm on her cheek.

"Goodbye, 100 yule." Asta said with sorrow in his voice, tears close to falling from his eyes.

"Please, that's just pocket change." Noelle said as she looked to her left, away from the poor scene.

"Pocket change?! Back home, that could've bought at least ten pot potatoes!" he yelled at her.

"As I said, just pocket change." Noelle retorted as she held her nose up with closed eyes.

Asta fell to his knees, feeling the same feeling after the talk about money in different social classes.

"Royalty!" he let out as Noelle looked down on him and Kahono laughed at the scene.

"You two are hilarious! How old are you?" she asked as Asta got up but still felt down.

"I'm 15." Asta said.

"As am I." Noelle added.

"Wow, what a crazy world! I'm 15 too!" Kahono said with a smile, bright eyes, and a small blush.

"Really?" Asta asked, his downcastness gone now.

"Yeah, now we should totally be friends!" Kahono said, still wanting to be friends with them.

"Yeah, sure. Let's be friends." Asta said with a smile as Noelle's eyes lit up a bit.

'Friend who a girl my own age?' she thought as she gained a happy blush. 'That's new.'

Noelle then turned away to hide her blush from sight.

"Very well, since you're so insistent, I guess I can accept your offer of friendship!" she said as her voice cracked a bit. "I mean, I won't not be your friend."

"YAY!" Kahono suddenly shouted with her arms out, surprising the two Black Bulls.

"UH!" Asta and Noelle let out as they jump a little, watching as Kahono put her arms down.

"Sorry, just got a bit excited there!" she said with closed eyes and a blush on her face.

"A bit?" Asta asked before the three of them started giggling together.

They spent sometime together after that and went down to the shoreline, telling Kahono about the Magic Knights and a bit of their adventures.

"Wow, that's so neat. The Magic Knights sound really interesting." Kahono said as she sat on a large rock.

"It's not big deal. It's also no surprise I would become one, I am royalty of course." Noelle bragged a bit to her.

"I just a commoner thought but that didn't stop me from joining." Asta said as he pointed to himself with his thumb.

"Interesting, so what brings you guys here? A vacation?" Kahono asked them.

"Naw, we're here on an important mission to a secret location under-" Asta was cut off as Noelle quickly covered his mouth,, preventing him from spilling the beans.

"Be quiet, Asta!" she told him.

"Under? Under what?" Kahono asked, curious to what Asta was about to say.

"Oh never mind him, it's top secret so we can't tell just anybody!" Noelle quickly said, causing Asta to remember and stop mumbling in her hand.

"Hm okay. I guess." Kahono said as she raised her hands. "Hey, you two are out here pretty late, aren't you?" she asked them, causing Noelle to lower her hand from Asta's mouth.

"Uh yeah." Asta said as Kahono blushed a bit.

"So does that mean you guys were-" Kahono didn't get to finish her question as Asta and Noelle blushed, knowing what she was insinuating.

"N-N-No!" Asta shouted.

"As if we'd ever!" Noelle squealed as her blush brightened at the thought, even if she wanted too.

"It makes so much sense why you're here!" Kahono said as she closed her eyes and encased her hands together, putting on a dreamy smile. " The perfect moonlight for romance and the crashing waves become a song in perfect harmony for a kiss."

"I am telling you, it is not like that!" Noelle denied once again.

"Yeah! We're here to train! Not to kiss!" Asta shouted in agreement.

"Oh, train? Like with your magic?" Kahono asked, casting aside the kissing nonsense.

"Yes, with our magic. I can't explain fully, but I need to learn better control by the full moon next week or our mission will be invain." Noelle said as she and Asta finally stopped blushing.

"And I'm here to improve a new spell of mine." Asta said.

Kahono stared at the two in silence, giving a look of awe before stepping off the rock and walking to them.

"Okay, I get the jist." she said before gazing upon Noelle, evaluating her and her control issue. "Let's see, gaining control. Interesting. How about you show me what you can do currently?" she asked as she stepped back.

A few minutes later, Noelle's had created another **Sea Dragon's Nest** that was floating in the air to show Kahono, a bigger one than the ones she was working on before, and even thought she was struggling to keep it up on the inside, it impressed Kahono and Asta on the outside.

"That's great, Noelle! Keep it up!" Asta shouted, cheering for Noelle to master her control.

"Wow! She got a lot of magic power!" Kahono said with her hands clasped together.

Another moment passed as the spell fell to the ground and exploded in a wave of magic water, leaving a heavily breathing Noelle on the wet ground.

"Excellent job, Noelle." Kahono said as she and Asta walked up to her. "Now, as a friend, allow me to give yo some advice. I think the reason you can't control your magic properly is because you holding back your mana too much."

Noelle stared at the girl with a look of curiosity and confusion, not quite understanding the advice given.

"Just hold still and listen." Kahono said as Noelle got on her feet, letting all three of them hear the waves crash against the shore. "Do you hear that? When I listen to the sounds of the waves, I try to copy how the waves crash and move back naturally when I cast my spells. Without letting anything hold me back, be it my feelings or thoughts, like the wave, I let my magic flow without restraint."

"That's how you do it?" Noelle asked, a bit amazed and jealous at her words on how she uses her magic.

"I'm far from being a philosopher, but I always thought a calm mind and heart were the key parts to focus." Kahono finished with a smile and closed eyes.

"Hmm, I don't think I understand." Noelle said before Asta spoke up.

"I think I understand but my ways a little different." Asta said as he covered his hands in **Iron Scales**. "I feel I fight my best when I don't think about anything but sometimes, when I think about the people I care about and want to protect, I feel even stronger!" he finished as he smashed his fists together.

"Well that may make sense to you but it doesn't to me. How can you fight while both thinking and not thinking at the same time?" Noelle asked in a blank face but she was genuinely curious as to how one does that.

"I think what he means is that when times are dire, he focuses on his fondest memories to get him through the fight." Kahono said, opening her eyes to Noelle. "Something comforting to help, ya know? Why don't you try?"

"Something comforting, okay?" Noelle said in question, not really sure how to do this.

"It shouldn't be too hard. How about your family?" Kahono asked, causing Asta to jump a bit and look towards Noelle as she gazed to the ground.

"My family?" Noelle said in question as she thought about her family, how they blamed her for the death of their mother, how she was such a failure to the great 'Silva' name, and that she should've died instead of her mother.

'You killed our mother.' Nozel's voice rang through Noelle's head, causing her to grit her teeth.

"Noelle." Asta said as he walked towards Noelle, wanting to comfort her since he knew of her relationship with her family.

"I appreciate the advice." Noelle said as she turned around, causing Kahono to become confused. "I'll keep working on it."

"Just let me know if you need healing. I heal royals such as you for the low price of 100, no 1,000-" Kahono said before she felt a hand land on her shoulder.

Kahono turned her head to see her new friend, Asta, giving her a series face before shaking his head side to side and moving past her to Noelle.

'I can't relate to your pain with your family but I can relate to feeling powerless.' Asta thought as he walked behind Noelle, understanding that she must've felt powerless without proper control of her magic while he felt powerless without magic before gaining his **Dragon Magic.** 'If you ever need help, asked for or not, I'll be there, Noelle.'

Time had passed in the beach country as all the Black Bulls did their own activities until the Full Moon and the start of the mission to the Underwater Temple. Nero was sleeping in a tree, Finral was flirting with women and failing, Noelle and Asta continued to train with their spells as Kahono cheered them on and offer pricey healing, Gauche constructed a giant sand model of his sister, Marie.

"Ah, my precious goddess. How I miss you." Gauche said with a bloody nose and teary eyes.

"Wow, big sculpture." said a women in white and green striped two piece to a woman in a strapless one piece.

"Maybe for a competition?" the other woman asked.

Noelle is now seen training at night, conjuring a water spell in her hands before falling the ground exhausted.

"Not yet." Noelle said to herself before she started glowing with bubbles around, Kahono singing/healing Noelle of her fatigue so she could practice more. "Thank you."

"Sure." Kahono said as she stopped singing and healing Noelle. "I'll just add it to your tab."

"Okay." Noelle said as Kahono laughed a bit before she summoned another large **Sea Dragon's Nest** , concentrating on maintaining it. 'Not yet!' she thought he training continued.

Not far from them, Asta had been training once again with his new **Iron Dragon Wings** , in the form of target practice. Though he made sure to practice shifting the feathers between blunt and sharp occasionally before launching them, they could still penetrate the boulders her was aiming for.

"Alright, pretty good but I can do better." Asta said to himself as he was flying in the air and launching more iron feather at his targets while using his magic to make more to fill his wings.

Grey was relaxing in an inner tube and Vanessa was sleeping after drinking some booze, an activity she had now taken to the beach. Meanwhile at the Black Bulls base, Gordon was crying a bit as he was surrounded by rocks with everyone's faces on them. It was a hard for the curse/hex/poison magic user as he didn't have many friends outside of the Black Bulls, so being left behind while everyone else was on a mission was a hard time for him.

"Please, everyone, come back. I don't wanna be left alone." Gordon said in his low voice, tears in his eyes as he sat alone in the base.

As he man continued to cry, a **Spacial Magic** portal suddenly opened and an owl flew through it. The owl dropped a scroll in front of Gordon, surprising him, before the owl left through another **Spacial Magic** portal. Gordon picked up the scroll and unfurled it, reading it to see it was a letter from the one Black Bull that could understand him in his low tone of voice, Asta. The letter stated that Asta apologized on behave of the group for leaving him behind, telling him how they were spending their time before the mission's offical start, and saying that he wished Gordon was there. At the bottom was the scroll was a sea shell Asta found on the beach and wanted Gordon to have as a souvenir, even if he didn't get to come along. He smile grew on Gordon was as he took the shell from the scroll.

"Thanks, Asta." Gordon said as he thought about his friends and hoped for the best on their mission.

* * *

 **I decided to throw Gordon a bone and give him a little love, no should feel left out from an accident.**

* * *

Meanwhile back at the beach, Yami was looking up at the moon, seeing the full moon would soon be upon them and their best chance at getting to the Underwater Temple was Noelle mastered her magic control. But that wasn't the case as Noelle was training once again, not getting the control she needed. Kahono and Asta were nearby watching as she training, giving support and healing if need be.

'This is my last chance but I still have no control.' Noelle thought as she breathed heavily after another attempt was control. 'At this rate, the mission will...' she thought until Asta interrupted them.

"Hey, Noelle! I have an idea!" he shouted, drawing her attention.

"You do?" she asked as she and Kahono turned to Asta.

"Yeah but I might sound crazy." Asta said before smiling at Noelle. "Instead of worrying about control, why not just let go and let your power run wild?"

"Huh?" Noelle let out in confusion since her goal was to CONTROL her magic, what use would it be to NOT control it?

"I've just been thinking about the first time your magic went out of control, back when we both became Black Bulls." Asta said as he raises his first. "I think that's what we need for the mission."

"Uh." Noelle let out, not quite understanding him.

"It's like Kahono told us, you're trying too hard to hold you magic back. You need to relax." Asta said to her. "And if your family doesn't relax you, trying something or someone else. And don't worry about losing control, I'll be here to make sure that doesn't happen alright?"

"What?! Are you insane?! There's no way-" Noelle wanted to argue but Asta cut her off.

"It'll be fine! Just go for it!" Asta said as he raised his fists in the air.

Noelle let out a growl before glaring at Asta.

"Alright but if something goes wrong, I'm holding you accountable!" she said before directing her attention to her grimoire floating in front of her, making it glow brightly as she was about to stop holding back her power.

Noelle took a deep breath and closed her eyes before she let her magic run wild.

'Okay.' Noelle thought before opening her eyes, showing determination. 'Time to let go!'

As she did so a tornado of water rose around her causing Asta and Kahono to cover their faces.

"In-Incredible!" Kahono let out as gaze up the Noelle's magic, seeing it in the same form as when she first lost control.

'I knew it.' Noelle thought inside of the spell, struggling to withstand the current and her power. 'I can't clear my mind!'

On the ground, Asta was gazing upward to Noelle, confident that she could do this. That she could control her magic if she stopped holding back.

"Noelle!" Kahono shouted.

"Come one, Noelle!" Asta told her before his attention turned to something he didn't expect to see.

'Looks like they were all right, I am a failure.' Noelle thought about herself as she just went limb inside of her magic. 'How can I focus on something or someone fond when I have nothing and no one fond?'

The water magic user was about to close her eyes in defeat until a sudden shout from a group of people brought her out of it.

"NOELLE!" they shouted, causing Noelle to open her eyes and see a heartwarming sight.

There before her were the squad she had been a part of, that took her in and made her feel welcome, the group of magical outcasts known as the Black Bulls, though they didn't have their robes. Everyone, except Yami, was there for her and shouted for her to not just give up.

"What are you doing, you royal pain in the ass?! Is that the best that you can do as a Black Bull?!" Magna shouted at her, hating that she would just give up so easily and bring shame to Yami's squad.

"Don't let all that magic power go to waste! Hurry up and control it so we can spare!" Luck said with his signature smile, amazed at the amount of power Noelle was holding back. His grimoire punch strapped to his chest.

"You won't die if you mess up! So just relax, have a drink to calm down, and try again later!" Vanessa said in a slightly drunk state with a bottle of win her in left hand but her words rang with truth and sincerity.

"Training like this works up a big appetite! So hurry up and finish before I eat all this myself!" Charmy shouted as she and two **Cotton Magic Sheep** **Cooks** were holding up 3 large platters of what appeared as cake.

"Don't worry if you fail. I'll be right here to catch ya!" Finral said as he gave his signature wink and thumbs up.

"Fall and I'll kick you ass right back into the air! So you better make it work!" Gauche said with his hands in his pocket, actually showing some care for his fellow bull.

"You can do thiiiiiiiiiiissss!" Grey, transformed into Magna, shouted to Noelle.

"You can do this, Noelle! I know you can, we all do!" Asta said as smiled at her.

Inside of her spell, Noelle stared in shock and realization. Standing right in front of her, were the people she had craved for her entire life, one that believed in her and wanted her to grow stronger with them, a family.

"Come on, Noelle! Go! You got this!" the Black Bulls cheered as Noelle's reality hit her.

'How could I have been so blind?' she thought as she thought back to a talk with Yami. 'I do have something and someones fond.'

It was mostly Yami insulting her before he offered her a place on the Black Bulls, something she didn't expect of Yami when you look at him.

 _"We're the worst of the worst squads but only the best failures end up here. A royal failure like you will fit right in." Yami said to her with a smile._

'After spending so many years with my family, not one good memory lies with them.' Noelle thought as she placed her hand over her heart, thinking back to the time she spent with all of the Black Bull squad members. 'And after spending only a few months with the Black Bulls, I have so many good memories. More than I ever thought I could gain, along with very precious ones.' she thought as her memories with Asta came flowing through her mind.

Noelle turned to Asta once more and saw that he was still smiling at her, believing in her.

'Asta, everyone. You accepted me, you believe in me when no one else did and now..,' Noelle thought ash she straighten herself, growing determined to not let the people who accepted her, who became a family to her, down. 'I want to show you all, that it wasn't for nothing!'

Noelle threw her arms out as he grimoire turned to a blank page, filling itself with a new spell created from Noelle's heart.

 **"Water Creation Magic! Sea Dragon's Cradle!"** Noelle shouted as he spell took on a new form and gave off a bright light.

When the light died down, everyone could see the spell had taken on a new, controlled form as a giant water sphere with a ring of water bubbles circling around it.

"It-it worked!" Noelle said in shock as she was floating inside of the sphere, which was waterless.

"Yeah! We knew you could do! Alright!" the Black Bulls cheered for their squad member.

'Sea Dragon's Cradle, a brand new spell.' Noelle thought with a happy face and bright eyes. 'I did it! I really, did it!'

Her excitement soon turned into exhaustion as the spell gave out and she feel to the earth with her spell raining down.

"Noelle!" Asta shouted as he jumped into the air, summoning his Iron Dragon Wings to fly to and catch Noelle.

"Aw man! Did you have to stop it like this?!" Magna said as he covered himself from the rain.

"I got the food! Not a drop will ruin it!" Charmy said as she summoned and stood on a cotton cloud over the food.

"Ahahahaha! That actually feels great when your flushed!" Vanessa said as the cool water hit her heated, blushing face from her drinking.

"Uuuuuuuuuh. Chu!" Grey let out as he transformed back into the big and scary look.

"AAAHHHH!" Noelle yelled as she fell to the earth until Finral appeared under her with his arms ready to catch her.

"Don't worry! I got-" Finral said before Asta came flapping in and catch Noelle, landing a few feet away and retracting his wings. "Hey! No fair!" Finral complained with tears as Asta stole his moment with the damsel in distress.

"What do you think you're doing?" Noelle asked Asta but was secretly glad to be in his arms.

"Saving you and congratulating you." Asta said with a smile. "I knew you could do it."

Noelle gained a small blush at this, which Asta noticed and soon copied after noticing the position they were in, before putting her down and coughing into his hand.

"We better head to the others, I'm sure they'll want to congratulate you too." Asta said as he looked away from Noelle to their squad mates and friends.

"O-okay." Noelle said before remembering the one who helped." Oh! Kahono, did you-" she turned to find her only to see that she was gone, like she suddenly disappeared. "Where is she?"

"Alright, it's time to party!" Magna said, happy that Noelle gained a new spell.

"Let's light things up!" Luck said next to him.

They both cheered as they launched their **Fire magic** and **Lightning Magi** c into the air, creating magic fireworks as Yami was watching them from a distance, feeling Happy that they were on step closer to completing their mission.


	42. Temple Ohoy! Somethin Fishy is Going On!

**bulk Locke the the grim head: Thanks and I may or may not put Gajeel in once more.**

 **helkil: I'll think about it.**

 **Drenix Warriorknight: 1. Interesting, though I would've chose something special. If you catch me drift.**

 **2\. Sure, I'll pass it around.**

 **3\. Interesting.**

 **4\. That's an interesting idea, maybe I'll use it.**

 **ShadowXZ2: Thanks and I need to catch up too.**

 **Jose: They're coming.**

 **TheLightFairyHearts: Thanks.**

 **Guest: Sorry man, but that would mean having to go back and doing Black Clover from scratch.**

 **Lazymanjones96: Thanks.**

After finally gaining control over her spell, the Black Bulls were ready for their mission to the temple but were they ready for whatever may lay inside the temple? That will be soon answered as the Black Bulls were now assembled on the beach and the full moon was out, high in the sky.

"This is it, this is when the mana surrounding the temple will be at it's weakest." Yami said as he stared at his squad with the usual cigarette in his hand. "So, are you idiots ready?"

"Oh yeah! Underwater Temple, here we come!" Asta said as he raised his fist in the air.

"And that goes for you too, magic stone!" Magna said as he gazed and grinned at the moon.

"And you can leave any yummy sea food we find to me!" Charmy said with a forks in her hands and several of her **Sheep Cooks** behind her, sharpening knives against knives.

"Do you think they'll have any rare wine to sample?" Vanessa asked, fully clothed and rubbing wines bottle against her face.

"I wonder if we'll face any strong people down there?!" Luck asked as he clutched his **Lightning Magic** sparking hands. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

"The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can see my little angel, Marie." Gauche said with a creepy smile and a nosebleed.

"And I can get back to the lovely beach ladies!" Finral said as he dig a little dance.

"Chuuuuuuu." Grey let out as he still had his innertube but also wore a snorkel and goggles.

"Okay, I guess that's one way of saying yes." Yami said as he still stood before them.

"Okay, Noelle, time to-" Asta stopped when he saw Noelle's nervous expression, showing that she still wasn't 100% on her abilities. "Noelle, are you alright?"

This brought her out her her thought before she shouted,

"Of course I'm alright! Why wouldn't I be?! If I could do yesterday then I can-" Now it was Noelle's turn to stop talking as Asta placed a gentle hand on her shoulder with a bright smile.

"It's okay if you're nervous, just know that we all still believe in you and know you can do this." Asta said, causing Noelle to gain a small blush.

"Asta's right! You're overthinking this! How about you have a drink to calm you're nerves?" Vanessa said as she was suddenly in front of Noelle, holding a bottle of wine up to the royal.

"Can you not make the person in charge of our lives drunk?!" Magna said as he shouted at Vanessa from Asta's right side.

Yami let out a puff of smoke before walking forward towards Noelle.

"No matter how many times things have gone right, they can still find a way to go wrong if you let the pressure get to you." he said as he stopped in front of Asta and Noelle. "Just try and relax, and things will work out. But if you do screw this up, I'm gonna kill you before the water does!" he finished with a grim tone, frightening Noelle, until Asta stood in front of her and growled at Yami.

"Can you not flip your words again?!" he said in an angry tone.

While this was flattering to Noelle, her thoughts prevented her from noticing.

'Grr! What is up with me?' she thought as she kicked some sand. 'I know I can do this but the way they're all relying on me makes it more difficult to relax! They all believe in me but shouldn't they be worried if the spell fails and we die?' she thought as she gazed upon all of their faces, smiling at her to show they still believe in her.

Noelle this grew a smile of her own and walked towards the water.

"Alright, I'll do my best." she said as her grimoire floated before her, crossing her left arm over her right arm. **"Water Creation Magic. Sea Dragon's Cradle."**

Water soon formed under Noelle in the form of a whirlpool before enlarged and moving under the rest of the Black Bulls before rising up to form a giant sphere of water with a floating ring of bubbles around all of them and floating into the sea.

"Woah!" they all let out in awe before Luck laughed a bit.

"It worked! I cast the spell!" Noelle said with happiness.

"That's great but one thing. It's a little tight!" Asta said with strain at the end as everyone was currently being crushed under Grey's big body, mostly the floaty Grey was wearing.

"The inner-tube's a problem, Grey!" Magna groaned as he felt Grey's weight on his stomach.

"Should I kill Grey?" Luck asked as his face was being pressed against the water wall.

Asta soon began to retaliate, moving himself slowly under Grey, before lifting said person up, saving everyone from being crush.

"Now that's better!" Asta said as he was covered in his **Iron Dragon Scales** , having activated the spell before lifting Grey. "Now could you please turn into someone smaller, Grey?!"

Grey complied with Asta's wish and transformed into Charmy, laying on Asta's hands like they were a lounge chair.

"How this form, peons?" Grey/Charmy asked with Charmy's smile.

"Better but lose the attitude!" Asta shouted at Grey before everyone began to float inside of Noelle's spell, having been freed from Grey's weight.

Yami then placed a gentle hand on Noelle's hand, not crushing it like he would usually do when he does that.

"Not bad, kid. Now all you have to do is guide this thing to the Underwater Temple." Yami said with a smile.

"Right, sir! Everybody, hold on tight!" Noelle said with a slight blush, unprepared to receive praise from their strange captain but mentally loved it. 'I got compliment!' she thought with a happy mental image.

Now, not wanting to let the good feeling she was feeling go away, Noelle mentally commanded her **Sea Dragon's Cradle** to descend into the ocean, letting every gaze at the beauty of the ocean floor. The sight was breathtaking as a school of fish swam by the water bubble.

"Wow!" Vanessa said as she and Asta gazed at the fish.

"Cool!" Asta said.

"It's like we're flying through the ocean!" Final said as Charmy and Grey, still disguised as Charmy, drooled at the fish.

"Look at all of those yummy future lunches!" they both said as the same time.

Gauche was holding the magic mirror he uses to contact his sister, Marie, to show said girl the beautiful bottom of the ocean and the fish swimming in it.

"Look at it, Marie. We're traveling through the ocean using magic." he said as Marie smiled at the fish and the ocean. "Noelle, get us closer to the fish so my sister can see them!"

"My magic doesn't work like that!" she argued with the mirror mage. "Fool!"

It was then the mirror began to lose the image of Marie, showing them that the deeper they good, the worse the connection, which Gauche was not happy to notice.

"No! My sweet angel, come back!" he said as he made the mirror face him.

"The mana is getting stronger the further we go!" Vanessa said as the water bubble soon came upon underwater whirlpools, though to them they looked tornadoes.

"We must be getting close." Noelle said before Yami confirmed it.

"Yep, this is the strong magic region before the main temple." he said as their ride started to get bumpy.

"Woah! AH!" They all screamed as they began to clutch the walls.

"THIS is when the mana is weak?!" Finral said as he and the two Charmys clutched the wall.

"Woah! This is something else!" Asta said as he was beginning to feel queasy from the shaking.

"Oh boy! This thing isn't gonna pop, is it?!" Magna said as he was back to back with Luck.

"This must be scary for you seeing as you use **Flame Magic,** huh?" Luck teased.

"You're talking crazy! Why would I be scared of this?!" Magna shouted back to Luck, sweating a bit to show that Luck was right.

The cradle continued to move as best as it could through the whirlpools as Charmy, Grey and Asta cheered for Noelle.

"Alright, you're doing great, Noelle! Just keep it up!" Asta said as the Charmys cheered while pumping their hands up and down.

"Thanks for the support but could you please keep it down?!" she shouted at them, mostly to the Charmys since they were the louder of the three. 'I can just barely dodge the currents but for some reason, I feel like the mana is helping to guide me.' she thought before she spoke out loud, "Don't worry! I've got this!"

It was then Vanessa clasped her hand over her mouth, feeling the wine in her stomach not sit well with all this shaking.

"Oh, magic! I think I'm gonna hurl!" she said before Gauche replied,

"Don't even think about, you drunk!"

"Okay, the currents have calmed down." Noelle said as a bright light began to shine on everyone.

Once the light died down, what the Black Bulls were met with were smooth and calm waters with fish of all shapes and sizes swimming around them.

"This is breathtaking." Vanessa said as her sickness passed.

"I've never seen animals like this before!" Asta said as it was his first time seeing living fish.

"And look at that one, it's glowing." Finral said as they all turned their attention to a medium sized fish covered in a radiant, blue glow.

"Yeah, kinda like." Magna said before he sensed it, confirming his theory. "Yeah, that fish has magic! I feel it!"

"Guess the mana down here has an effect on how the fish evolve." he said as the Charmys held up forks.

"Does that mean their taste is even better?" one said.

"Let's catch some and find out!" the other said.

They both began to float towards the wall, not caring if they drown or not.

"Fishy, fishy, fishy!" they chanted before Manga grabbed them by their Black Bull robes and pulled them back.

"Are you two seriously risking you're lives just for a snack?!" he shouted at them before turning his head to the Charmy in his right hand. "And Grey, we really don't need another munch monster!" he said, somehow knowing that this Charmy was actually Grey.

It was then Noelle caught sight of something interesting, something that Yami soon picked up too.

"Everyone look! It's a barrier made of whirlpools!" she said as everyone soon gazed at a dome like barrier covered in swirling pools of water. "And from what I'm feeling, it's extremely powerful! I don't think my spell will get us through."

"Well alright, I guess we have only one option." Yami said before pointing to Asta. "Kid, see if you can use that Iron Shadow whatever to slip us under it."

"It's Iron Shadow Dragon mode and sure, I'll give it a try." Asta said before taking a breath and activating his power. **"Iron Shadow Dragon mode."**

His skin soon turned into shining iron with whispers of shadows flowing off of him like steam, Asta then turned to Noelle and said,

"Alright, Noelle. See it you can get us close before I do this." Asta told Noelle, who nodded before commanding her **Sea Dragon's Cradle** closer to the magic barrier.

When they were only a few meters from it, Asta placed his hands on the wall of Noelle's spell, focusing his magic before it began to slither across it and everyone inside. His effort were soon success full as the giant bubble soon melded with the sea floor and became a shadow before slithering under the barrier with ease. Once the shadow was fully inside, both Asta and Noelle released their spells and allowed all the Black Bulls to stand in the surprisingly dry inside.

"Not bad, kid." Yami said as he walked forward, ignoring an exhausted Asta on the ground.

"That...was a lot harder than I thought." he said before pushing himself up and Gauche off, who was standing on him without a care, before grabbing his pouch of iron nails to eat. 'It was a lot easy when I did it to that Rades guy.' he thought as he ate some nails to regain his strength, remembering his first time turning someone else into a shadow.

"We didn't die!" Magna celebrated.

"I knew it! You were so scared, you even wet your pants!" Luck said as he stood next to Magna.

"That's seawater!" He argued.

"I'm still not getting any reception to Marie. All this mana is getting in the way." Gauche said to himself, not caring that he was standing on Asta a few moments ago.

"What a nice looking place." Finral said as he looked around.

"It's hard to believe that this is at the bottom of the ocean." Vanessa said as she raised her arm over her face and looked up.

Noelle just let out a sigh of relieve, glad that she was able to get herself and her squad her safely, with some last minute help from Asta.

The Black Bulls then walked over to the ledge of a cliff to catch an amazing sight of what looked like an undersea city with several stones, tiered structures with the temple proper dominating the landscape in the distance. It was then Asta felt something move in the hood of his robe, turning his head to see his bird companion, Nero, pop out and fly to the temple.

'How did I not notice him?' he asked himself.

"Alright then, Charmy," Yami said as he held a delicious looking cupcake up. "Whips us up a cotton ride."

"Yes, sir!" she said with her hands together, obeying without question to get that delicious dessert.

A large cloud of cotton soon formed under them and flew them off to the temple while Charmy enjoyed her motivational treat.

"Munchy muchy munchy." Charmy said before she caught Grey/Charmy gazing at the cupcake with interest. "Want some?" she offered her copy.

"Yes, ma'am!" Grey/Charmy said.

The trip to the temple was strangely quiet, as if it was nothing but a ghost town. There were no traps and they didn't see any people, this lead to the bulls complaining and actually WANTING to be put in danger.

"Hey, can that kind of talk!" Magna said to them, giving them his view of the situation. "Just because we haven't seen anything yet, doesn't mean we won't! So you guys better keep your guard up!"

"Agreed!" Asta said as he was ready for anything and secretly using his heighten senses to sniff or hear anything that might try and get the jump on them.

After a few minutes of travel, the group soon landed in the makeshift city near the temple, taking in the beautiful buildings and the bright color. They walked only for a short time before being noticed by two people living in the city and getting the attention of everyone in the undersea city. They were all strangely excited by their visit and gave nothing but compliments and questions.

"Wow, is this what people are like from the surface?" said a man with orange hair. "And by the looks of it, they're Magic Knights."

"If they are, they're rather cute!" said a woman with red hair at Magna's appearance.

"It must've been ten years since we last had visitors." said a bald old man with a beard.

While the seafolk were excited to see them, Asta was a bit disappointed and confused by this.

"Huh...I didn't expect this." he said as he gazed around with sweat on his forehead.

"Hate to break it to ya, kid but sometimes, what you least expect is bound to appear." Yami said with a smoke in hand.

"Since we're hear on a mission, why don't we ask around for the magic stone, captain?" Vanessa said as she was surrounded by all men, giving a few poses and winks to intensify their blushes.

"Alright." Yami said before walking towards a group and giving his usual intimidation face. "I'm looking for the guy in charge, tell me where I can find him, kay?" he asked, causing Asta to speed to him and try and stop him.

"My apologies for my captain, he's just takes his job seriously." Asta said(/half lied?). "Can you please tell use where we can find the leader of your humble home?"

"Sure, it's no trouble at all." a man with shaggy dull blonde hair said in a calm voice but from the gaze he was giving Yami and the vein on his right temple, he did not have good intentions in mind or he was just copying Yami. "Who you want is the High Priest, kay!?" he told them as two others were sitting on steps leading to the temple, giving off the same Yami copies as well.

"He's just at the top of the stairs, it's a bit of a hike, kay!? said a man with a strong jaw and a brown slightly flat top of hair, curving at the edges, he currently had a toothpick in his mouth.

"Please, allow me to lead the way, kay?!" said a tomboyish woman with her purple hair in a messy bun.

"Great, it's trending." Asta said.

And so the walk up the long staircase began, with some the Black Bulls doing their usual things, even when on an important mission. Finral was trying to hit it off with the women (and might actually get a win), Gauche stared at the picture of his sister he always carried, Grey had transformed into Gordon, which was surprisingly a hit with the ladies and much to Finral's shock and Charmy was listing certain foods that can be made with crab, a sea creature she caught the sight of.

"You know, this is actually easier than I thought it'd be." Asta said to Noelle as they walked next to each other.

"Well, I'm not complaining. But what about you, how much longer can you go with out fighting or nearly dying?" she asked in a snarky tone.

"Hey, it's not like I actually look forward to fighting or nearly dying! I'm just saying it's too easy right now!" Asta said as blankly stared at Noelle.

The journey to the top ended sooner than expected as they all stood before a door with a gray, elegant looking arcway with starfish molds on it.

"Welp, here we are." Yami said before the doors to the Undersea Temple opened by themselves, allowing the 9 Black Bulls to enter as the citizens said their goodbyes.

"Tell the priest we said hello!" said a woman with brunette hair and a star hair clip.

"Let's talk more about the surface world when you came!" shouted a man as he cupped his mouth to sound louder.

"Sure, and thanks for the warm welcome." Asta said as he waved at them unitl his hearing picked up what they said before the doors completely closed.

"Well, good luck you guys." said the man.

"Save your thanks for later." said the woman.

'Good luck? Save my thanks?' Asta thought before his instincts began to flair up. 'Something's not right here.' he thought before turning back forward and focusing on whatever awaits them.

The group walked in silence for a few minutes before coming upon a room with a single person standing in it, who they assumed was the high priest.

"Hey, look." Magna said as they all saw the person.

"Is that the high priest?" Asta asked and was about to say hello before his hearing alerted him to something. "Something's behind us." he said in a hushed tone that only Noelle could hear.

They both turned around slowly and were met with the sight of a large, monstrous looking fish creature, gazing down at them with sharp teeth and drooling spit.

"AAAHHHH!" Noelle and Asta scream at the sight of it before Asta formed his **Iron Dragon Sword** and immediately sliced it in half before it was finished off by blasts from Magna's **Flame Magic** , Luck **Lightning Magic** , and Gauche's **Reflect Ray.**

"That's the end of that but what was that thing?" Magna, Luck, and Gauche said at the same time.

The man from before soon stepped forward and gave a joyful laugh, happy at the scene that was just before him. He was an old, wrinkled man with long, thin eyebrows and mustache that extend outwards. He has a long beard that extends below his waist and extremely long hair that for some reason is able to levitate. His outfit was a large coat with a large collar and a black trim. Under the coat he wears light-colored shirt and pants and a dark-colored belt.

"Wonderful, just wonderful! I love it when unique visitors come to the temple!" he said with closed eyes before opening them, showing his gray/sliver eyes. "Welcome to the Underwater Temple, my name is Gifso and I am the high priest of this subaquatic structure!" the man, Gifso, said as he made a sideways peace sign with his right eye closed.

"Wait, this guy is the one in charge?" Magna asked as he moved next to Yami, questioning the rather energetic old man before them.

"That wasn't a very nice welcome, you old geezer." Yami said without a care.

"Ahahahahaha! I can't describe how much I love doing that to people, scaring the pants off them!" Gifso said as he rambled on. "Did you see how those two reacted?"

"Grr! He thinks this is funny?" Noelle asked in anger.

"Serious." Asta commented as he caught Charmy walking towards the now dead fish monster with a fork and knife.

"Does this guy taste good?" she asked before Asta stopped her.

"Hang on, Charmy. I don't think that's safe to eat." he said before the giant monster was suddenly cut into more pieces, which was not Asta's doing. "Woah! Where did those cuts come from?!" he asked.

"Who cares?! It's just screaming to be eaten now!" Charmy said as she saw steam coming off the cut pieces.

"Sorry to break it to you, kiddo, but magic isn't food." Gifso said as the cut pieces continued to steam before breaking apart into magic particles and disappearing.

"It was magic?" Asta said in a shocked tone as Charmy fell to her hands and knees.

"Not even a single bite?" she said in despair.

Meanwhile, Vanessa and Finral were gazing at where the magic monster once laid and begun to think.

'I've never seen that kind of magic before.' Vanessa thought. with a serious expression.

'It must've taken a lot of magic power to make something that big.' Vinral, who also had a serious expression, thought before turning back to a laughing Gifso. 'This guys must be insanely powerful.'

"Now, can I assume you all came to claim the magic stone, huh?" he asked with the same smile on his face, getting everyone attention. "If you want it, you'll have to win my little game first!"

This took everyone for a turn as they didn't expect this! A fight maybe or a search but a game?

"What kind of game?" Asta asked, feeling as this wouldn't be the kind of game kids play.

It was then Finral was thinking the exact same thing Asta was feeling, that this old man before then was trouble and the game was FAR from an actual game.

"Well, I hope you're all ready because the name of the game is..." Gifso said before a blush came to his face and he turned to Noelle and Vanessa, his fingers wiggling in all manner of direction. "How squishy the boobs are?!"

Not even a second later, Gifso was punched in the face and knocked to the ground by Noelle, who then proceeded to repeatedly stomp on the old man's back.

"I have a better game in mind!" she said with her hands on her hips while she stomped the old man's back.

Asta's felt like he should've said something or tried to stop Noelle but he went against it, feeling that his instincts would tell him that this was justice.

"Geez, kids these days. Just can't take a joke." Gifso said after Noelle stomped repeatedly crushing his back,holding his bruised left cheek and a bloody nose.

"Oh really? Then let me show you one of my joke." Noelle threatened as she held up a small back of water in her hand.

"Okay, I think he's had enough, Noelle." Asta said as he felt she should stop before she killed Gifso.

"Alright, enough clowning around and let's get down to business. How'd you know we were here for the stone?" Magna asked, wanting to get down to business and finish the mission.

Gifso then gave a creepy laugh as he turned to Magna, showing a creepy, sinister smile as well.

"Don't think just because I'm old, doesn't mean I don't have good eyes and ears." he said in an evil way. "So what will you do? Your kingdom is in dire need of that stone, isn't it?"

It was then two groups were formed to discuss their plans of action. Magna had gotten together with Luck and Gauche about discussing to just beat up Gifso and take the stone, which got good results from Gauche, who agreed it would be the fastest way, and Luck, since he thought Gifso looked pretty strong and it could be fun.

"Seriously?! You're okay with beating up an old man?!" Asta shouted at them, shocked they would even suggest such a thing.

In the other group, Finral was discussing with Vanessa and Charmy that they shouldn't get involved with this creepy priest's games. This didn't produce good results either as Vanessa was just wondering when she could nap and Charmy was wondering when they could eat.

"Do you three not even care?!" he shouted at them, shocked once more.

"Aw, are you not gonna play? Well, how about this? If you win, I'll gather the temples most beautiful women, most exquisite wine, and finest foods for a banquet to celebrate your victory. Huh? What do you say?" Gifso said, overhearing the more obviously weak willed of the group and picking at their weaknesses to get his desired results.

"Okay, we'll do it!" Finral, Vanessa, and Charmy said, suddenly areeing to Gifso's game.

"Grr!" Asta said as he grit his teeth, seeing his squad mates give so easily in to such ridiculous rewards besides the stone itself. "AAAAHHHH! Fine! I'll play your stupid game but I'm playing to win the stone, nothing else!"

He was then about to be kicked by Yami until his instincts warned him and dodged to the side.

"Alright, that's enough shouting for one day." he said before letting out some second hand smoke. "Fine, since we have no choice, how about you take on this gambler right, huh?" Yami said, getting a cheer from Magna as he challenged the old priest.

"Oh yeah! Show him what you've got, Captain Yami!"

"Alright, so what's the game, old man? Dice? Roulette? Name it." Yami challenged.

Gifso gave a small chuckle before cheering to the sky while shouting the name of the game.

"A battle royal! There's nothing like a good battle of skills and muscle to get the blood pumping! Woohoo!" he cheered as he danced around a bit, not caring that the Black Bulls were staring at him with straight faces.

Gifso then brought out his grimoire, a 3 clover black one covered in light blue sea barnacles.

"Mages of the temple, get ready to rumble!" he said as multiplied magic circles appeared in the air behind him. **"Game Magic! Temple Shuffle!** Yeah, baby!"

This surprise the Black Bulls as they gazed upon the circles.

"Are those...doors?" Magna asked before his question was answered.

Soon, 9 of what they can assume are the mages of the temple, came flying out of the door ways and landed before Gifso in an orderly line. There attires were robes with the scale design and masks of various marine animals.

"You call, High Priest?" they all asked before setting their eyes on the Black Bulls.

"I see, mages of the outside world have for a visit!" one mage said in a man voice.

"This is gonna be a blast." said another voice with a giggle.

"Eh, I don't know. They don't look so tough." said the one in black mask covered in holes, laughing at how unimpressive the Black Bulls look.

"They're wearing fish masks?!" Asta said, a little weirded out by the fish masks they wore.

"Yeah but they look like crap." Manga said, unimpressed by the mages and their masks.

"Oh man, is any one else feeling the the magic power from these guys?" Finral said as a bead of sweat went down his head. "Are the mage or warriors?"

Yami held the same look on his face as Gifso threw his arms back.

"Alright now, is everybody ready?!" he said, eager to get this show on the road.

"Wait, so soon?!" Asta said in shock but had to be ready for whatever these mages have.

"What exactly is this?" Noelle asked even though she knew battle was imminent.

"He he he." Gifso laughed before shouted. "Alright! Time to get the party started!"

As his grimoire glowed, Gifso commanded several pillars of water to circle both groups of mages.

"What the hell is going on?!" Asta shouted in confusion as Gifso kept merrily laughing.

The water pillars soon plummeted towards the mages and consumed then in water but in reality, the water was taking them to different parts of the Underwater Temple. Which is where Asta now finds himself, coughing up some water before gazing around and finding himself in an empty cavern.

"Where am I?" he asked himself while looking around. "And where's Noelle and the others?"

He soon stopped his looking as he sudden;y heard Gifso's voice echo through the cavern.

"Testing, testing. 1,2. IF you all can hear me, you may have noticed by now that you have been seperated and placed in various parts of the temple by your's truly." he said as everyone else was looking at their surroundings.

"Wow, so this is inside the temple?" Luck as as he was placed by a waterfall.

"What kind of game is he playing?!" Magna asked as he was still being swept away by water.

"You all have seen the temple mages from earlier and now you'll be facing them in a 9 vs 9 magical brawl, no holds barred!" Gifso said as Charmy was in a sandy area and moving with caution.

"Now where's does he hide that food?" she said as she shuffled off.

"Wait a moment." Noelle said as she was in a cave like area near some water, clasping her head in worry. "I don't have any attack spells! How did I not notice that until now?!" she then remembered something and began to question it. "Wait, 9 vs 9? But we have 10."

"The rules of the brawl are simple. Knock outs and surrenders results in victory." Gifso said as Vanessa was yawning in a grassy area.

"Well, at least I don't need a nap anymore." she said as Gifso went on.

"The team with that knocks out everyone on the enemy team or has the most left standing by the end of the game wins!" Gifso said as Grey/Gordon was in an area with many geyser pools.

"I'm going to transform for this game, little crab." Grey/Gordon said to a nearby crab before transforming in a puff of smoke.

"You may play any way you can think of, one on one, band together, hide out until the end or ambush and destroy, whatever you want!" Gifso said as Finral found himself in a rocky and waterfall area, sweating nervously at the thought of this battle royal.

'What kind of sick game is this?' he thought before holding his hands up and tiptoeing away. 'Sorry guys, but I'm gonna hide this out.'

"By the way, be on the look out for my **Nuisance spells** , they're a really dozy!" Gifso said before laughing as Gauche was now standing in an area of both trees and water.

"Nuisance spells? Old man, you've haven't even seen a nuisance yet." he said with his hands in his pockets.

"Woohoo! This is going to be so much fun!" Luck said with stars in his eyes.

"Alright fine! Bring it on, I'll take on anything you throw at me, High Priest!" Asta said before he suddenly sensed a presence close by, an enemy presence.

"Well well well, what this?" the voice said, causing Asta to turn around and see a temple mage gazing at him throw his squid mask. "I've never sensed magic power quite like your's before, it's so unique. Tell me, what kind of magic is that?"

Asta didn't give an answer as he stared at the squid mage with caution, not knowing what kind of magic or spells he may have up his sleeves.

"Aw well, it doesn't matter. I'll soon find out either way." he said before he felt Asta's magic power raise.

"Is that so? But be warned, you might not like the answer." Asta said as he summoned his new **Iron Dragon Wings.**

* * *

 **Side Notes:**

 **1\. Sorry to say this but I will only be covering battles the include Asta.**

 **2\. An idea I promised a reader I'd pass around.**

 **Black Clover x RWBY idea (From Drenix Warriorknight) : Asta, Noelle, and Yuno getting transported to Remnant so they can be team ANY. Although it should problably be after black clover's current arc in the manga is over and just when the Huntsmen entrance test starts in season one of RWBY. Since then Asta would have 3 anti-magic swords that can cut right through Grimm and aura. And Noelle would have her Valkyrie armor. I can see Noelle and Yuno getting auras, but Asta would need to get good armor to make up for his lack of aura. Plus with Asta's ki sensing he could tell Blake is a faunus the moment he meets her so that will be funny.**


	43. The Battles Begun, Danger Approaches

**bulk Locke the the grim head: Yes it is.**

 **helkil: You're welcome and here's hoping I can make it good.**

 **ScytheMasterX: You'll have to wait, see, and (hopefully) be amazed.**

 **Reminder: If anyone has forgotten, I will only be doing battles that involve Asta.**

After arriving at the Undersea Temple and meeting it's leader, Gifso the High Priest, the Black Bulls were thrown into a battle royal against nine of the temples mages for the prize of the magic stone. In order to complete this mission, Asta and his allies will have to go beyond their limits and beat any opponent that stands in their way, like this current squid masked mage that was standing before Asta and his **Iron Dragon Slayer Magic.**

"Oh? Is that some type of metal magic? Interesting, but sadly, I don't think you'll be able to land a single hit. Not when it comes to my **Mollusk Magic**." the squid mage said as a slight wave of distortion washed over his body. "Your attacks won't lay a scratch on me."

"You think so?" Asta said as he crouched down, letting his wings rise a bit.

In a feat of great speed, Asta flew into the air and spun like a top with his arms out.

 **"Iron Dragon Wing Shower And Iron Dragon Kunai: Metal Storm!"** Asta commanded as the iron feathers and iron kunai began to rain down towards the squid masked mage, who just stood there.

As soon as the iron feathers made contact, they just diverted their course and struck the area around him.

'What the heck?!' My attack isn't working?!' Asta thought as he stopped spinning and remained in the air a bit.

"I told you, your attacks won't lay a scratch on me." the squid mage said as he looked up towards Asta. "My **Mollusk Magic** prevents any physical attack from making contact with my body, so unless you can find a way to break through it, you can't hit me."

"Grr!" Asta growled as he grit his teeth, if his physical attacks won't work, he'd have to try another way. "Your magic may protect you, but let's see if it has a limit!"

Asta then flew towards the ceiling of the cave and started firing more iron feather and slicing it up to cause it to fall apart and fell towards the masked mage.

"Didn't I tell you physical attacks won't work on me?" he asked as the rubble the hit him wasn't hurting him at all.

"Maybe not but either way, your spell will reach it's limit or I'll just have to bury you!" Asta said as he launched more feathers towards the ceiling, causing it to fall apart of fall more.

"Are you crazy?! You'll kill us both!" the squid mage said as he raised his arms to stop bigger pieces of the cave from falling on him but it proved Asta's point. His spell had a limit and it was never seen until now.

"I was right! Your spell does have a limit!" Asta said as he then flew straight towards the masked mage.

The rubble continued to bombard the squid mage until his spell finally gave out and a rock struck his shoulder, injuring him.

"Ah! On no, my spell!" he said as he grabbed his shoulder.

"Got you! **Iron Dragon Hard Fist!** " Asta yelled as he coated his right hand in iron scales and struck the temple mage in the face, cracking his mask and embedding him in the ground. "I told you your spell would reach it's limit." he told mage as he pulled his fist back and retracted his wings.

"UH." the mage groan as he laid in pain before losing consciousness.

"Alright, now to see whose next!" Asta said before he ran off into another cave, leaving the unconscious mage on the rubble covered ground.

As Asta continued to run through the temple, Gifso's voice suddenly spoke again.

"Oh by the way, until the game is over, no one can leave!" he said before suddenly his captain spoke as well.

"Finral, stop being a coward and fight already!" he said causing Asta to come to a conclusion.

'Wait, they're watching us?!' he thought as it was the only reason why the comment was directed at Finral, knowing his somewhat cowardly nature but none the less. 'If they're watching us fight, then who else is watching?!'

"How can we chow down and enjoy the fighting if you don't fight, Finral?!" Yami said, somewhat confirming Asta's theory about them being watched and he can only assume the rest of the people from the village are watching too. "And make sure to be brutal! It's a lot more fun that way!"

"My thoughts exactly, good sir." Gifso agreed with Yami, loving the thought and sight of brutal and bloody battles.

Asta grunted in shock before shaking it off and continuing to find his next opponent to defeat or a fellow Black Bull to help. While running through the temple, more of the magic and monstrous sea creatures appeared to try and stop Asta but that just ended with the same result as the first one.

 **"Iron Dragon Lance! Demon Logs!"** Asta shouted as he summoned lance/spear heads to both hands and launched a barrage of thrusts to the monsters, piercing and cutting them to pieces.

As he sliced down the last one, he suddenly sensed something dead ahead of him. An enemy and a powerful one.

"Their ki is close. And there magic is stronger than the last one." Asta said to himself as he rushed forward and came upon an interesting sight.

As he found another mage of the temple, this time wearing a swordfish mask and having a dark blue ponytail or braid sticking out the side, Asta saw that he was wielding two interesting looking swords and standing on top of another fish monster.

"Geez, why can't these things just go for the enemy, grandpa?" he said, a bit annoyed at the monster for attacking him.

'I was right, he is strong!' Asta thought as the fish masked man turned toward him.

"Oh, hey. You're that Asta guy, right?" he asked, shocking said dragon slayer.

"Huh? Yeah but how do you know me?" Asta replied, wondering how this mage knew his name.

"Who wouldn't?! You the guy who wields magic no one's ever seen before, said to be from a dragon!" the man said, raising left sword in the air a bit.

"Hey, wait a second! How'd you know that?!" Asta asked, seriously wondering how he knew both his name and his magic!

The swordfish mage just laughed a bit before lowering his sword.

"That's my little secret but hey, check out this dance!" the mage said before suddenly moving and swinging his swords with grace and pride.

"Um, but aren't we suppose to be fighting?!" Asta asked before seeing water come off the swords, dancing with the blades themselves as the man continued to waltz with amazement.

'I gotta admit, that is pretty cool.' Asta thought as he watched the man who was suppose to be his opponent dance.

"Well what do you think? Wouldn't people just love it on the surface?" he asked as he waved his swords in the air.

"Well, if this is just a sample, then I'm sure they'd love it!" Asta stated, enticed by the dance but still kept on his toes if he still had to fight.

"Well thanks. My name is Kiato and my dream is to entrance all of the kingdoms with my dancing!" he said before adding something rather sad. "However, even though we are able to visit the surface's beach, we aren't aloud to to venture to the surface's cities."

"Really?" Asta asked, a little sadden by this news.

"Yes but you see, if I win this fight, my grandfather, the high priest in case you're wondering, will use his authority to allow me to go to the surface and then, I will make it make it big as a great dancer!" he said causing Asta to gap his mouth a bit.

'The is a big dream! But wait, didn't Kahono have similar dream?' he thought to himself as he remembered Kahono explaining her dream of being a big time song idol.

"So I apologize in advance, but in order to achieve me dream, I must defeat you here and now!" Kiato said as he suddenly charged, while still dancing, at Asta, who was prepared, and slashed his sword.

'He's quick!' Asta thought.

Kiato didn't waste a second before doing a twirl and knocking Asta back with his other sword. Asta skid back from the surprise force of the attack and stopped when he dug his feet in the ground.

"Sorry to say this, but I've got a dream just as big as your's." he told Kiato, with determination in his eyes.

"Huh?" Kiato asked in curiosity.

"My dream is to become the strongest mage in the land and the ultimate protector of the Clover Kingdom, the Wizard King." Asta said before willing his Iron Dragon Lances away. "So sorry back but for the sake of my dream, I will not lose here!" he dug his feet into the ground beneath him before shooting straight towards Kiato. **"Iron Dragon Scales!"**

Asta gave a mighty battle cry as he covered his body in iron scales and gave a chopping attack to Kiato, who held his swords in a cross guard before pushing them back to deflect the attack, or so he thought when his mask suddenly began to crack.

"Alright then." Kiato said as he mask split down the middle and showed his silver/grey eyes, dark blue scruffy hair with a long ponytail in the back, and strange looking eyebrows. "Let's fight with our dreams fueling us and hold nothing back!" he said before jumping into the air with his swords ready.

"Sounds good to me!" Asta said as charged with his iron covered body and fists ready to fight.

The sound of metal clashing against metal filled the cavern as the iron on Asta's body constantly met with the metal of Kiato's swords. Asta tried his best to hit Kiato with his punches, kicks, and even slashes since his nails were now extended to be like blades but he could land even one attack as Kiato continued to dodge and attack with dancing like moves. It was rather frustrating as Kiato performed an upward slash the scratched against Asta's right cheek before Kiato retreated and spun around before performing a series of slashes like they were waves in the ocean. All Asta could do was block and try to strike back but Kiato's dance moves were just too swift.

'He's even stronger than I thought.' Asta thought as he block a slash that would've hit his face. 'And his movements are incredible, it's like his brain isn't even on. It makes his ki too hard to read.' he thought as he kept throwing punches and chops that Kiato dodged.

Kiato then closed the distance again, dodging Asta's attack once more before slashing at Asta's face, scratching the iron on his right check.

'It feels like my brain is overloading just trying to keep up. Could that be his magic?' Asta thought to himself as Kiato spun his body and arms in a circular motion.

"Sorry to say but against my blades and my **Dance Magic** improving my movements, your unique **Iron Dragon Magic** will be nothing but scrap metal soon." Kiato told Asta as he twirled and continued to dance around the cave battle field.

He then dashed to Asta again before slashing once again at a rapid pace, causing Asta to raise his to block every slash Kiato throws as he was forced to back up.

"Come on, Asta. Why don't you just surrender already so I can stop hurting you?" Kiato asked as he continued to slash at a rapid pace.

'UH! This isn't good. If I don't do something, I'm gonna lose but how can I beat someone who fights like their made of water?!' he thought before it suddenly came to him, how he can fight back against Kiato and win. 'That's it! Maybe I can't with like I usually do, not if I'm fighting against water. So, the only way to beat water is to become water!'

It was then Asta jumped back a bit and just let go of all tension in his body, letting his limbs become limp before mowing around loosily. Even if it was embracing to look it, it was the only chance he had to win.

"Ah, playing copy cat, huh? How amusing." Kiato said as he saw Asta's fluid and tension free movements were like his own dance.

"Maybe so, but just try and pounce on this cat!" Asta said before his face hardened. "I might not have your **Dance Magic** but I can at least mimic it if I relax enough!"

"He he he. Even so, without proper experience, your moves are limited." Kiato said as he twisted his body around before coming in for an attack.

Alas, Kiato's hopes of ending the battle came to a halt as Asta easily dodged the slash like how Kiato was dodging his attacks earlier. A gasped escaped the dancing mage as he stared in shock.

"Huh?!" he let out.

"Maybe so, but limits were made to be surpassed.!" Asta shouted as he gave a swift back hand and knocked away Kiato's left sword.

'Amazing. This kid is really something.' Kiato thought as he gave a smile, even though he had sweat on his brow.

Their battle was about to continue until a sudden earthquake spread throughout the temple, causing everyone to stop their individual battles.

"What the heck?!" Asta said as he looked up at the ceiling before his instincts began going wild, alerting him to danger.

'What's going on?! I wasn't like this until the shaking came!' Asta thought before sniffing the air, catching a familiar scent that made his blood run cold. 'That smell! This feeling! It all makes sense now!'

Asta then nervously swallowed before letting out a shaky breath.

'The Eye of the Midnight Sun is here!' Asta thought as he felt things had just became extremely more dangerous!

* * *

1\. Iron Dragon Kunai. Metal Storm: Launching multiple iron kunai at once towards a target. Created in Chapter 10.

2\. Iron Dragon Sword. Spinning Slash: When air born ,transforms leg into iron sword, with spikes spinning, and give self a spin with plummeting to target. Created in Chapter 13.

3\. Iron Dragon Cage: Use as a shield or trap, user thrusts arms into the ground and summons multiple Iron Clubs to form a pyramid around self or target. Created in Chapter 21.

4\. Iron Shadow Dragon Crushing Fist: Used in Iron Shadow Dragon mode. Fusing any amount of shadow magic into the Iron Dragon Hard Fist, it delivers a greater blow with more power. Created in Chapter 21.

5\. Iron Shadow Dragon Sword. Slashing Wave: Used in Iron Shadow Dragon mode. Infusing Shadow Magic into the sword allows it to send a flying slash attack towards opponents. Created in Chapter 25.

6\. Advanced Dragon Slayer Secret Art. Karma Demon Steel War Hammer: Used in Iron Shadow Dragon mode. Combining iron and shadows before willing it to become a type of mimic steel in the shape of a hammer head before delivering a devastating blow capable of breaking any defense or binding. Even seals. Created in Chapter 37.

7\. Iron Dragon Wings: Channeling magic into two spots into his back, Asta is able to create large wings made from light iron to allow flight. The long feathers allow Asta to launch them as projectiles. Created in Chapter 40.

 **NEW** 8: Iron Dragon Wing Shower: By flying in the air and spinning at rapid spells, Asta can shot his iron feathers at an accelerated pace and deal high damage. Also has a mental command to make them sharp or dull.


	44. Meeting the Challenge, A True Beast!

**Drenix Warriorknight: Don't worry, I got a plan for Vetto and for Asta. Though I may not do the training with Yami thing.**

With the sudden arrival of the Eye of the Midnight Sun, the stakes of the game just got 1,000 times deadlier since Asta knew these guys would play to kill, not to incapacitate.

'This bad! If we don't stop them, then this mission will have been for nothing!' Asta thought before a sudden voice came to the temple, not Gifso's voice but Yami's voice.

"Testing, testing! Alright listen up, you idiots!" he announced, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and listen.

"Oh my god, that's Captain Yami!" said an unfamiliar female.

"Oh, hey captain! Did you see? I actually beat one!" Vanessa said as she was drinking from a bottle of wine, one she took on missions for god knows what reason.

"Those nasty Midnight Suns of bitches just crashed the party! And one of them is a high ranking member, as strong as a Magic Knight Captain, and is wild as a goddamn beast!" Yami told them, causing all inside the temple to go on alert.

This caused Asta to confirm his suspicions, as he's felt a familiar blood lust from before.

'So, they sent Vetto, huh?' Asta thought as he grit his teeth, remembering when he fought that monster of a mage.

"Counting his lackeys, there's a total of 5 in the temple right now!" Yami continued as Charmy was sleeping, for some odd reason. "But something's come up, so I can't lend a hand."

"What?! You can't help us?!" Finral shouted as he was walking in a tunnel.

"So, it's up to you dunderheads to beat em!" Yami said, causing Finral to stiffen.

"You're kidding!" he said before Yami continued his "pep" talk.

"Listen up, it's time to push pasted your limits again and if you so much as think about dying, I'll kill you after this is done." Yami said as all the bulls took on serious expressions to match the level of the situation. "Yami over and out!"

'Alright, time to get serious! I can't let this mission fail or my friends die, not today!' Asta said as he clenched his fist, looking at Kiato, who had a serious face on as well.

"Attention, Knight of the Clover Kingdom and Mages of the Temple!" Gifso's voice suddenly rang out. "Due to this turn of events, the rules will be altered, to obtain the magic stone, you must know defeat the intruders, the Eye of the Midnight Sun. And for the Mages of the Temple, aid in this, and your wishes will be granted without question! I swear on my position as High Priest of the temple!"

This caused Kiato to gasp, amazed that is dream was now even closer than it was before yet it would turn out to be more difficult. As he thought about that, Asta was still thinking back to the time he fought Vetto. Remembering his savage **Beast Magic** and the cannibalistic smile on his face. The memory was still fresh in his mind and it unknowingly caused him to shake and sweat a bit under his **Iron Scales** before he lowered them and slapped his cheeks.

"Get a grip." Asta said as he still shook and sweat but this time, he had a smile on his face. "I was able to face someone as scary as him before, and I can do it again! And this time, I'm gonna win!"

Watching from behind, Kiato save Asta's resolve to fight even though he was afraid. It was admirable and it brought a smile to his face.

"Asta." he said, causing Asta to turn to him. "It looks like were teammates now and our fight will have to wait for another time."

"Yeah, you're right." Asta said with a nod before smiling at him. "Alright then, let get going!"

"Okay!" Kiato replied as he and Asta moved quickly down a tunnel, determined to find Vetto and defeat him.

As they were running, Asta was using everything as his disposal to find Vetto. Mana, smell, hearing, ki, he was using all four to trying and pinpoint the Midnight Sun beast as accurately as possible.

"Are you sure this is the right way? I know you can sense mana but how can you be sure it's not someone else's?" Kiato asked as he ran behind Asta.

"I can use more than just mana to find someone! Thanks to my **Iron Dragon Slayer Magi** c, my senses are enhanced, so I'm using my nose and ears too! I've also using a technique known as **Ki** for extra measure!" Asta told Kiato as they continued to run.

"Nose, ears, and ki? None the less, I think you're on the right path! I'm sensing something right up ahead!" Kiato said as he began to sweat a little. "It's big, bigger than any magic power I've come across in my life!" Kiato's face then hardened as he speed up a bit. "This battle will be even greater than I thought!"

"Hey, just asking, but how come I couldn't read your ki from when we were fighting?" Asta asked, remembering how he couldn't sense an ounce of **ki** from Kiaot when he moved in their fight. "It was nearly impossible to get a good find on you."

"Oh, well to be honest, whenever I dance, I go into a type of trance. It's like my body just knows what to do and it's a really big help when I comes to fighting." Kiato said as he gave Asta a smile.

"Your body just knows? Like it has a mind of it's own?" Asta asked.

"Yeah, like my consciousness just fades away and it helps since my opponents are unable to track my movements." Kiato explained.

"Wow, that's pretty cool!" Asta replied as he smiled at Kiato before trying to go into a trance of his own, still running.

"Uh, he he." Kiato let out before looking up ahead, seeing a bright light. "Look! He's up ahead! I can see the magic clashing with one another, flame and lightning!"

"That must be Magna and Luck! And the one they're must be Vetto himself!" Asta said as he could see the magics clashing as well, in the form of colors.

"And this Vetto, just what is he?! It's like his magic is nothing but a ground of wild and snarling animals running in all directions!" Kiato said, feeling a bit of fear at just seeing Vetto's magic and wondering what Vetto himself would look like.

"That definitely sounds like Vetto's Beast Magic!" Asta said before turning to Kiato. "But how are you doing that? Describing it like that?"

"Oh, well my people are skilled in reading magic and all the forms it can take!" Kiato said before turning back forward and frowning. "But if we're about to face someone like that, then it worries me!"

"He he! If you can read magic in all forms, then what does my magic look like?!" Asta said as he turned forward to run.

"Huh?" Kiato let out before focusing on Asta, having not done so before since they were battling. "Guh!"

Time seemed to slow down as Kiato saw Asta's magic toward over him and form a giant beast with wings, it gave off a silent roar before gazing Kiato in the eye.

"A...dragon?!" Kiato said in shock before shaking his head and time seeming to return to normal.

"Yeah, that's right and even if it might now be able to match Vetto, Luck and Magna are no slouches!" Asta said as he smiled. "Even if those guys are a little crazy, you can always depend on them when the going gets tough! I know for a fact that we'll all get out of this alive!"

As they continued to run, a sudden brightly shinned and a sudden increase in magic power was sensed throughout the temple.

"This level of mana!" Noelle said as she was in a cave with Kahono, who was actually a mage of the temple and her opponent.

"Huh!" Kahono gasped as she felt it too.

"This level of power!" Vanessa said as she felt the magic as well.

"Luck! Magna!" Asta shouted as he and Kiato came upon the cave they were fighting in. "Are you guys alright?!"

Asta and Kiato came to a stop as they saw the amazing sight before them. Of Magna and Luck, side by side, hitting Vetto in the chest with what looked like a combination spell of fire and lightning magic in the form of a sphere. A few seconds later, streams of fire and lightning showing past Asta and Kiato as a bright light was beginning to consume their vision.

"Wow! You're friends are eve stronger than I thought!" Kiato commented before the light died down, showing a cave covered in broken rocks and scorch marks.

Something shocking caught Asta's eyes as he saw his friends leaning against Vetto, thinking that they won the fight. But to his horror, they were both covered leaking blood and Vetto was fine, actually blocking Magna and Luck's combination attack with two **Bear Claws.**

"Hehehehe." Vetto laughed as Magna and Luck fell to the ground, exhausted from their failed attack.

"GGRR!" Asta growl as he clenched his fists, shadows slowly coming off them.

"You pathetic worms. I gave you a chance to fight me with your best and this is all you have?" Vetto said to them as he raised his right hand, preparing another **Bear Claw** to finish them. "Now fate and fall into despair."

Vetto was about to crush them with his attack before hand suddenly shot up from the ground and grabbed his wrist, gazing down Vetto was met with the sight of Asta, in his **Iron Shadow Dragon Mod** e, glaring at him in defiance.

"Ah, I remember you. The tiny knight with the power of a dragon." Vetto said as Asta growled at him. "We meet again."

"Grr!" Asta let out as he glared his blank white eyes into Vetto's.

As the two beasts glared at each other, Kiato moved up to them and watched.

"He's definitely one of them, one of the Eye of the Midnight Sun." he said as he thought back to Asta's new form. 'What is this? His power is even higher than it was before.'

"It seems that luck is on my side today. Now I can repay you for all the pain you caused my friend, Licht." Vetto said, remembering so clearly when Asta manages to strike the light mage with his **Karma Demon Steel War Hammer.** "You will wind up just like those pathetic friends of your's, lowly bugs crushed under my feet."

"They...are not bugs." Asta said in a low growl as his grip on Vetto's wrist increased while gathering shadows into his left fist. "Those two are my superiors and..." Asta then hit Vetto in his chest with his **Iron Shadow Dragon Crushing Fist.** "my friends!"

This hit was strong enough to send Vetto a few meters away as Asta pointed to Vetto.

"Their job was to take down, but since they couldn't I'll make sure to finish what they stared!" Asta said as he threw his arm to the side.

While Asta was making his proclamation, Vetto stared down at the impact point from Asta's punch. The result of it left a slightly purple bruise with remnants of shadows on it.

"So this bruise is the result of an attack from the power of your's?" Vetto said as he gazed down at it. "I must say, it takes a rare few to be able to harm me and it did hurt more than those two weaklings could muster."

"Well I hope you're ready for more, cause I've got plenty more to dish out!" Asta replied before smashing his fists together. "Now about those magic stones you're collecting, tell me why you're collecting them!"

"I don't have to explain our plans to garbage like you! Especially since you possess unnatural mana!" Vetto told him, gaining a look even crazier than the look from before.

"Unnatural or not, I'll use it to beat you!" Asta replied to him.

"If you think so, come and take your best shot! Don't expect another free one like before and you'll fall just like your weak friends!" Vetto shouted back as his grimoire floated in front of him while referring to a downed Magna, Luck, and a mage of the temple lying in a caved in part of the wall a ways away who possessed the same dark blue hair as Kiato.

"He even took down dad?" Kiato said to himself, as he knew that mage was his father and the temple's strongest.

Kiato then turned back to Vetto, seeing his magic now in the form of a monstrous beast with the same smile he had.

'His body is giving off waves of magic energy and they constantly guard his body.' Kiato thought as Vetto continued to smile evilly at them.

"Hehehehe! After I manicure every last one of you in this temple and those fools watching outside, I'll find the magic stone easily." Vetto said as everyone watching, in the village and in Gifso's viewing room, began to cower in fear. "My only hope is that they put up a good fight, it'll make it funner to kill them."

Those words man Kiato growl, he had never met someone so vile and sinister in his entire life and the fact that he was threatening his home and all the people within it was the last straw.

"You threaten my home, my friends, and my family all while smiling like that! I won't stand for it, I won't let you hurt anyone of them!" Kiato proclaimed as he brought out his grimoire, light blue and displaying a twisting river, and his sword while showing an angry face.

"Let's do this, Kiato!" Asta said as was just as ready to fight as him.

"Yeah!" Kiato replied as they both chagred at full speed.

Asta charged running while Kiato jumped twice before slashing at Vetto, who blocked before striking back but he missed as the dancing mage jumped away. Asta soon came with an **Iron Shadow Dragon Club** but Vetto was fast enough to block it and retaliate with a **Bear Claw** but his attack missed as Asta quickly turned into a shadow and moved under him before popping up behind him and attacking again, though it was blocked once more. Kiato charged at Vetto again, using his dancing battle style to try and hit Vetto, who had the speed to dodge both his and Asta's attacks. Asta then ducked under another attack before going for an uppercut, nearly making contact with Vetto's chin before the beast mage grabbed his arm and spun him around and throwing him at Kiato, sending them both back and skidding to a stop. They were breathing heavily from their attempts to strike the beast mage but were determined to fight.

"He barely hit us and yet his power is overwhelming!" Kiato said as Asta thought about how Vetto was fighting.

'His moves, it's like he can read our ki but that option's not easy for me since he's too fast.' he thought as they got up from the ground.

"I gotta say, you're even strong than I thought you were." Asta told Kiato, comparing his **Dance Magic** from before to now.

"The same to you, I never knew you had power like that" Kiato replied about Asta's new form.

"How boring, slow moves and weak attacks. Though you're just as strong as when we fought before, you still can't keep up with me. And the underwater scum is not better, It's pathetic!" Vetto told them.

This would upset other people but to Asta and Kiato, it only motivated them.

"Now you've done it, you mangy cat!" Asta said as he and Kiato smiled.

"There's no way we'll let someone like you win!" they said before charging at Vetto once again, with Asta turning into a shadow and Kiato remaining on foot.

As Kiato once again want against Vetto with his swords once more, Asta slide under them to gain a good enough distance to attack.

 **"Iron Shadow Dragon Roar!"** Asta let out as he let out a bright white blast.

Kiato saw this and quickly jumped up, drawing Vetto's attention before he sensed the attack coming towards him.

 **"Bear Claw!"** Vetto commanded as he used it to smash through the blast, saving himself and creating a layer of smoke.

'Now's my chance!' Asta thought as he returned to shadow form and moving into the cloud.

Thinking he could strike while Vetto's eyesight was blocked, Asta tried to land an uppercut on the beast mage but failed when said mage moved his head back.

"You're not the only one with heightened senses, welp!" Vetto said as he was about to attack Asta, only for him to counter with his own punch. "No bad, let's try this again shall we!? **Bear Claw**!" Vetto asked has he reeled his other fist.

 **"Iron Shadow Dragon Crushing Fist!"** Asta quickly commanded as his threw his own fist.

As both magic fists clashed, the force from the impact was enough to clear the smoke field and show Kiato the clashing Asta and Vetto.

"RAAHHHH!" Both yelled as they began throwing a barrage of fists at each other, each one dodging a punch or countering with their own.

Though it appeared to be even, Asta was still slower than Vetto and couldn't dodge a good portion of the beast's punches.

'I can hit him while he's distracted!' Kiato thought as he swiftly moved to Vetto, spinning himself to gain moment to for a powerful strike.

Kiato was almost upon Vetto until he was able to strike Asta in his stomach, causing him to go flying a bit before deflecting Kiato with a back hand.

"Not yet!" Asta screamed as he turned into a shadow as he hit the ground, circling back to Vetto before jumping into the air. **"Iron Shadow Dragon Sword!"** Asta yelled as he created a blade of iron and shadows on his right hand, it's spiked edge spinning with great speed.

Giving a mighty scream as he brought the blade down, Asta put all of his strength into the slash, only to be counter by Vetto catching it in both hands and letting it's still spinning edge spark against his hands.

"Heh!" Vetto chuckled until he saw Asta's smirk, like this was what Asta wanted him to.

"Got you! **Slashing Wave!"** Asta said as a powerful wave of shadows blasted Vetto at point blank range, but it didn't cause Vetto to let go. "Huh?!"

As the smoke cleared from Asta's attack, he gasped in shock to see Vetto covered in some sort of magic armor shaped like an animal with a horn nose before it started to crack and break apart before becoming magic particles.

"Well, color me impress, not many can break through **Rhinoceros Armor.** " he said as he smiled at Asta. " It take a powerful mage to break it, don't you agree, sea scum?!" he shouted as he turned to see Kiato trying to attack him, only to gasp in shock as he threw Asta at him.

The impacted of the hit knocked the wind out of the sword fighters gut as they were about to hit the cave ground, if not for Asta grabbing Kiato and taking him into the shadow world with him and pulling him out.

"You alright?" Asta asked as Kiato was bent down a bit, catching his breath from the impact.

"Yeah, I'm good." Kiato said as he went back to standing straight.

"Alright, then let's go." Asta said as his Iron Shadow Dragon Sword spun with ferocity once again.

Giving a battle cry, Asta and Kiato charged at Vetto, slashing with speed and power as the savage mage blocked their attacks but as he did, he left himself open for a split second. That second was long enough for Asta and Kiato to land their attacks and actually cut on his right shoulder and left tricep.

"Got him!" They shouted as Vetto actually frown, since without his **Rhinoceros Armor** he could actually be hurt by their attacks.

He then decided that play time was over and moved quicker than they could see, striking Asta in the stomach and Kiato in the face to send them flying in the the cave wall far behind them.

"Your hope is strong, but it is nothing compared to my despair!" Vetto said as his cuts suddenly glowed, healing shut from his magic. "You'll habe to do a lot more in you want to survive."

"Fine then." Asta said as the smoke from the impact cleared, showing blood coming from his forehead and lips while his **Iron Shadow Dragon Mode** was fluctuating a bit before fading away and being replaced with **Iron Dragon Scales** and **Iron Dragon Sword.**

Vetto let out a small chuckle before his frown returned.

"Looking at someone like you makes me sick. Fighting with a power that is clearly beyond your worth." Vetto said as saw the power Asta was wielding, thinking it's being wasted as he uses it. "Your hope will burn out soon and do you know why?"

Vetto then extended and expanded his **Bear Claw** to lift a large boulder nearby, planning to use it crush Asta.

"1. Your power is great but it will run out eventually!" he said as he threw the boulder at Asta, who moved quickly to dodge it but Vetto was quick enough to close the distance between them. "2. Though, your physical strength is impressive and magically increased, my strength is increased even further!" Vetto continued as he launched a barrage of attack to Asta, who blocked the assault but could feel his scales cracking at his arms and legs.

Asta skid to a halt before dashing back towards Vetto.

"What your point?!" he asked as he charged with his sword.

"And 3." Vetto began as he quickly struck Asta's sword, breaking it into pieces and almost breaking his arm before grabbing his neck and lifting him up. "You don't know when to quit. You think by constantly fighting, you'll eventually find a way to win but your reckless attitude in the face of superior foes leave you open to fatal wounds if they find an opening." Vetto then began to add pressure to his grip on Asta's throat, causing the iron to groan and scales to crack.

"UH!" Asta groaned as he tried to keep his magic from fading and Vetto's grip from killing him.

All the while, Kiato was too injured to do anything to help and could only watch.

"It sickens me to see such ancient and powerful magic in the hands of human filth like you!" Vetto said as he could hear the scales begin to crack.

"No matter what you say, nothing will change what's happened." Asta said in a dry groan since he throat was being constricted.

"You little band of friends never had a chance." Vetto said as he increased his grip, hearing the iron crack even more. "Go on, scream for me! Let me hear your cries of agony!"

Asta take what little breath he could, watching as Vetto expected him to scream only to be blasted a very small **Iron Dragon Roar.** Even though it was far from its powerful original blast, it was enough for Vetto to loosen his grip on Asta throat and allow the dragon slayer to gain some air and talk. Taking a few deep breaths, Asta glared at Vetto as he gathered enough energy to talk.

"Yu hin U ca rotec nyon if I ga u?" Asta said in a very low tone, which didn't even come out as words.

"What?" Vetto asked before a sudden magic cry blasted into the cave, creating a door way and causing Vetto to drop Asta to the ground. "Hm?" he let out as he turned to the new doorway in the cave.

"And here I thought animals like you had good hearing." said a familiar voice as the dust from the blast cleared.

What Asta saw was two people he knew well, Noelle, his crush and fellow Black Bull, and Kahono, his latest friend who appeared to be a a mage of the temple like Kiato. Vetto growled at them as he now had two more nuisances to deal with.

"He said "You think I can protect anyone if I gave up?!" they both said as they were ready to fight, not only to defeat Vetto but to protect Asta.


	45. Power Awakened!

**bulk Locke the the grim head: Yep and their battle is about to step up to another notch.**

 **TheLightFairyHearts: You will.**

 **Guest: You don't like it, read something else. It was when I was first new to writing fanfiction.**

After coming face to face with Vetto and trading blows before being rendered unable to fight temporarily, Asta was now lying on the cave floor and watching in relive that Noelle and Kahono had came to his rescue but even if he believed in them, there was no doubt the gab between them and Vetto was vast.

"Well, it appear my next set of prey has arrived." Vetto said as he turned the Noelle and Kahono, raising his arms like he were an open target. "I hope you'll be more entertaining than the last pair."

Hearing the he was inviting to the challenge, Noelle and Kahono grunted in nervousness before taking in the situation of the cave area. All around them, were the ones who tried to beat him and failed. Something that Kahono took in greatly as she saw her father in a crater against the wall behind Vetto.

"Dad!" she said as Noelle felt the same impact from her down allies.

"Magna and Luck too." Noelle said before turning to Asta, who was lying on the ground taking deep breathes. "Asta!" she said as she saw the cracks on his scale covered body and throat, only imagining the pain he must've been in.

"Gr!" Asta let out as he tried to raise himself up a bit, still having the energy to try and fight.

'All of them were defeat before we arrived!' Noelle thought as she turned back to Vetto, letting some sweat fall from her brow. 'Just what kind of monster is he?'

Noelle question would soon be answered as she and Kahono stood ready, their grimoire's floating before them and ready to be used.

"Hehehehehe." Vetto chuckled as he gave a toothly smile, eager to crush them just like he crush the other 5 mages.

As Vetto was ready to demolish the two female mages, an iron covered fist suddenly struck his right cheek and caused his head to move a little bit. Turning his eyes to the culprit, Vetto was meet with the reptile like eyes of Asta as he glared at him and his left arm shaking to push more force forward.

"Don't forget me!" Asta growled between his teeth, exhausted but still wanting to fight the beastly mage.

"Away with you, pest!" Vetto proclaimed as he back handed Asta with a **Bear Claw** , wanting to make sure Asta stayed out of the way for good.

"AHH!" Asta let out as right side of his scaled face cracked furiously, taking most of the damage and showing it as he flew to a cave wall.

"Asta, no!" Noelle scream as she watch Asta be knocked away so easily.

While Noelle watched in worry, Kahono acted fast and took a deep breath.

 **"Song Magic! Rhythm Cushion!"** Kahono shouted as she gave a harmonic scream to Asta.

Said dragon slayer was suddenly saved and embedded in a fluffy white mound of Kahono's song magic, hearing her voice resonate as he felt the soft impact.

"Good thinking, Kahono." Noelle said as she was happy Asta was saved.

"No problem but I'll have to charge you 1,000 yules for my service." Kahono replied as she turned to Noelle with a small and her hand out.

"Hehe. How about I pay you 100 times more when we get out of this alive?" she counted, getting a laugh from the song mage. "Now, the next thing we should do is get everyone back in fighting condition. Can you use that spell from before, those healing bubbles?"

"Yes, I can but I don't think he's going to give us a chance too." Kahono said, gesturing to Vetto as the man still stood ready for them. "No way he'll wait til my song is done before attacking us."

As they continued to stare down Vetto, a sudden rock fall somewhere in the cave and cause Noelle and Kahono to jump. Turning to where the sound was, their eyes were met with the downed and injured Kiato.

"Who's that?" Noelle asked as Kahono didn't answer, just taking another deep breath.

"HEEEYYY!" Kahono suddenly shouted, increasing the volume with her **Song Magic.**

The sound was so loud that Noelle had to cover her ears and Asta, who was still inside the **Rhythm Cushion** , jolted at the noise do to his increased hearing.

"What the hell?" Asta let out as Kahono's shouting continued.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING BIG BROTHER?! THIS IS NO TIME TO BE SLEEPING!" Kahono shouted to try and wake up her brother. "WE CAN'T KEEP OUR PROMISE AND GET FAMOUS UNLESS WE BEAT THIS BEAST MAN!"

The screaming seemed to have the desired effect as Kiato opened his eyes, hearing his sister's words about their dream.

"DID YOU FORGET OUR ACT?! YOUR DANCING AND MY SINGING?!" Kahono shouted before Kiato rose to his feet, injured bu standing strong.

"Hell no!" he said as he was ready to fight once more.

"Wait, he's your brother?" Noelle asked as she turned to Kahono.

"Yep, the rock for brains dummy is my brother, Kiato." Kahono answered, insulting her brother without a care.

"Hey, who are you calling rock for brains?!" he shouted back before grabbing his head in pain. 'If I didn't use my **Dance Magic** to counter the punch of his at the last moment, I'd be headless now.'

Kiato then turned his head to gaze at Vetto, still standing in the same spot with that animal like grin.

'He'll be nearly impossible to defeat.' he thought. 'but...'

"In order to fulfill our dream, to go to the surface world someday..." Kahono said with a pause.

"We're not going to die here, not before we can make it big. We won't let out dream die today!" Kiato finished, knowing what his sister was saying. "Let's do this!

Giving a nod, Kahono took a small breath before singing a song with her **Song Magic** and letting it stream from her mouth like a light river of magic. As she continued to sing, Kiato began to step gracefully with his Dance Magic and creating trails of water from his blades.

"Huh?" Vetto let out in confusion as he watched them both as Kiato began to spin.

'Wait, I know what their doing.' Noelle thought as she watched them and felt the air. 'They're increasing their mana.

 **"Combo spell!"** Kiato and Kahono shouted as the former jumped into the air, glowing a light blue to show his increase in magic power.

"Taste the **Sea God's Slash!** " Kiato shouted as he chagred at Vetto, preparing to attack.

'With the aid of Combination Magic, my dance moves are powered up thanks to Kahono's singing. This allows me to release powerful strike at my enemies!' Kiato said as slashed his sword, unleashing a wave of magic.

Vetto blocked the attack with two large **Bear Claws** but as the attack disperse, a cut was laid on the right side of Vetto's collar bone near his neck.

"Amazing!" Noelle said as she watched in awe.

Kiato continued his charge, throwing more and more slashes until he got up close, dealing more furious slashes that were beginning to break Vetto's defense.

"Ggrrr!" Vetto growled as he was forced to stay on the defensive but was able to assess the situation to try and turn the tables. "The cries of a songbird along with the scurrying of a mouse. I didn't expect such unique power from such little bugs in a remote location."

'Believe it! This place, our home, is what molded us into who we are today.' Kiato thought as he unleashes more attacks. 'Not only is it engraved into our very bones but into that of the generations of our people who praised the Sea God with the same **Dance and Song Magic** as us!'

'With every song and every dance we do, give praise to the Sea God and to everyone we love!' Kahono thought ash she continued to sing her song.

"This magic represents the unbreakable bond of the everyone in the Underwater Temple!" Kiato said as he slashed at Vetto, who blocked the attack.

As the battle raged on, the viewing bubbles outside of the temple were showing everything to the citizens of the underwater village and they were shouting their support for their temple mages.

"You can do it, kids! Bring this beast down!" Gifso said from his viewing room with Yami.

'That bond will never be broken!' Kahono thought.

'We won't lose to you!' Kiato thought before jumping into the air and slamming his swords into the ground, the energy from the strike being enough to kick up a large cloud of dirt.

'Is it over?' Noelle thought in hope but was soon diminished.

As the cloud cleared, the figure of Vetto was still standing tall with the same smile on his face.

"Are you finished with your rambling?" he asked, not moved by either Kiato's attack or words.

A gasp was heard all around from the village folk to Gifso as the monster of a man was unharmed by the attacks.

'Impossible!' Noelle thought with just as much shock.

None the less, Kiato refused to give up and went to recklessly slash at the beast man.

"Please, don't give up." Noelle mumbled as she did not want to see all their efforts be in vain.

"HAH!" Kiato shouted as he launched more magic slashes at Vetto, who decided it was time to end this little game.

 **"Beast Magic. Cheetah Charge."** Vetto said as his feet were wrap in green magic, allowing his to disappear at high speed.

"What?" Kiato let out before Vetto suddenly appeared before him.

"Hahaha." the beast mage laughed before slashing at Kiato, severing his right leg just below the knee.

"GAH!" Kiato let out in pain, unable to use his **Dance Magic** and began falling to the ground.

"KIATO!" Kahono shouted as she stopped singing, shocked to see her brother's leg bbe cut clean off.

Before Kiato could hit the ground, Vetto used his **Cheetah Charge** once more and appeared behind him. He struck Kiato with a **Bear Claw** covered punch and shot him into the cave wall once more. With the dancing mage out of commission, Vetto turned his sights to the songbird, who was shaking in fear of his power.

"Dreams? Bonds?" Vetto asked before charging at the frightened temple mage. "What do you humans truly know about those things? Do not lecture me about such things, woman!"

Vetto thrust his hand into her throat like a knife, damaging her wind pipe and preventing her from doing anymore singing as Kahono coughed up some blood.

"Kahono!" Noelle shouted in shock, seeing her friend taken down so quick and easy.

As Noelle was distracted by her down friend, she didn't see the earlier spell had dispersed and Asta was released to land on the ground. A anger look was on his face as he was able to hear everything the siblings said and everything Vetto countered to insult those words, he wasn't the only one as Gifso, who was in shock and sorrow from seeing his precious grandkids severely injured, gave an shout of sorrow and anger.

"Alright, you beast, let's see how you like this!" he said as he opened his grimoire, ready to strike Vetto down. **"Game Magic! Monster Toy!"**

Back in the cave, Vetto was holding Kahono up by her pony tail and was planning to finish her off until two giant fish monsters suddenly appeared behind him.

"Can you muster nothing more than just useless pawns?" Vetto said as he didn't even turn around.

Without even turning around, Vetto launched a one handed barrage of Bear Claws at the magic monster and defeated it in record time.

"You know child, we had dreams once long ago. Bonds as well, until you humans turned then into nothing back ash!" Vetto said to Kahono as his friend, Licht, came to mind. "Our dreams were as bright as gold and became the bond that forged the Eye of the Midnight Sun to that of our very blood! And it seems, like you humans crush our dreams, I have crush your's and your brothers of singing and dancing with nothing more than well timed blows. So tell me this, what good is a songbird that can't sing it's song? It's the very life blood of despair, so delicious."

As Vetto was enjoying his victory, he could see that Kahono appeared to be have a determined face and was trying to say something but couldn't, sweating in effort to let some noise escape her damaged throat as blood was dripping from her lips.

"Oh? So you have some defiance left? It seems I need to tear your wings off little bird, since I already took your voice." Vetto said as he cracked the knuckles in his right hand before pulling it back to deliver the final strike. "A bird that can't sing a tune has no real purpose."

"Stop!" Noelle shouted, causing Vetto to turn to her and see her wand pointed at him. "Put Kahono down and step away from her! Right now!"

"Do you truly think I'll stop just because you ordered me too?" Vetto asked as he wasn't planning on stopping until everyone in the temple is dead and the magic stone is his.

As Noelle continued to stare him, her hand begin to shake and her doubts were creeping back into her.

'I can't afford to miss or the one who will be hit is Kahono!' Noelle thought as remembered what she remembered what Vetto said to Asta and imagining the beating he said along with it. 'If I couldn't attack then, could I attack now? And if I did, could they even do anything against him? Asta could barely lay a scratch on him!'

She would've continued to think negative thoughts, doubting herself and her power, if she didn't feel another hand clasping her shaking one.

"It's alright, you can do this." said Asta, who had made his way over to Noelle without her or Vetto knowing.

"Asta?!" she said in shock as she turned her had to see Asta, standing behind her and his head to her right with an iron nail in his mouth.

"You can do this, Noelle. You just need to stop worrying about what might go wrong and start believing in yourself, like the rest of the Black Bulls do. Like I do." Asta said as he smiled at her, causing Noelle to blush and turn her eyes away from his gaze.

"Bu-but-" Noelle tried to counter before a sudden voice reach her and Asta.

"He's right." the voice said, causing Asta and Noelle to look towards Kahono, who was smiling towards them.

The cause of this was that she was using the little energy she had to use her song magic to increase her voice in a low echo, one that wouldn't be heard until it reach it's target.

"Stop worrying about what will happen and trust in yourself. Use the great power inside you and protect those you care for with it." Kahono said as he mouth just moved up and down with not sound coming out. "Use it to protect what you value most."

'What I value most?' Noelle thought before remembering the squad that accepted her and the boy she cared for deeply standing right beside her.

"She's right, power isn't anything unless you use it for what you see is right." Asta said as he firmed his grip on Noelle hand.

"Everything will be fine and that's a promise. Because I am your friend." Kahono said before closing her mouth, stil smiling at the friend she believed in.

It was then a jolt of electricity coursed through her whole being, eliminating all of Noelle fears and allowing her to stand tall. Tears flowing down her eyes as a huge weight was taken off of her.

"Thank you." Noelle said as she turn to Asta, giving a smile as a thanks for the reassurance. "Thank you so much."

Asta keep his smile as he let go of Noelle's hand, letting her know she didn't need him for what she was about to do.

"Don't mention it, now go give him hell." he said as he took a few steps back.

Noelle gave a nod as began to walk towards Vetto, her grimoire glowing bright and flipping to a new page as her magic power cascaded off of her in a blue veil. Vetto was was interested by the sight and turned to her as Kahono smiled at her, proud that Noelle was embracing the reservoir of power within her. Stopping her charge, Noelle pointed her wand at Vetto as he magic power grew even larger and caused a small earthquake to spread throughout the Underwater Temple and the village. It cause shock and confusion for everyone as they couldn't tell what exactly was causing it.

"What in the world is this?" Gifso asked, shocked that Noelle magic power had the magnitude to do something like this.

"You finally did it, Noelle." Yami said as he smiled, proud of the sight of his squad member. "Show him what you got."

Back in the cave, Noelle's magic power was spiraling around the tip of her wand and was ready to be unleashed.

"Wow." Asta let out as he watched the magic power before him, amazed as he didn't know Noelle was holding back this much.

"I'll say this one more time.' Noelle said with a threatening tone.

'This power! Where did she get it?!' Vetto thought in shock as he was actually becoming afraid at the sheer volume of it.

"Put my friend down or else!" Noelle said as she was ready to put Vetto in his place for messing with her friends!

"How is this possible? Who could this girl nbe to possess such magic power?!" Vetto asked before a theory came to mind. "Wait, are you by chance of royal blood?"

"So what if I am? My royal blood is far from important in this situation!" Noelle said as the magic in her wand began to form a water ball at the tip. "My name is Noelle Silva, member of the Black Bulls! And I want stand by any longer while you harm my friends and my squad!"

"Interesting." Vetto said as his smile grew wider and crazier. 'So the rumors are true.' he thought. "This will be a great day, one where I get to rid this world of a member of the corrupt class!"

Vetto then threw Kahono to his left, no bothering to finish her as the royal would be a more exciting kill. She would've hit the ground if Asta didn't move to catch her, having eaten all of the iron he brought on the mission to regain his strength.

"I got you." Asta said as he gently placed her on the ground.

"Though Noelle was relieved that Asta caught Kahono, she was still furious that Vetto would treat her like that. The spell she was building up on her wand was reaching it's completion as it expanded into an eve bigger sphere.

"This shall be a start for whats to come, an example of what lies for the filthy high class of this world!" Vetto said as he grew a large **Bear Claw** on his right hand. "Now come at me with your best!"

"Consider it brought! Let me show what a 'filthy high class' can do!" Noelle said before firing her spell. **"Water Creation Magic! Sea Dragon's Roar!"**

"Dragon?!" Asta asked in shock before gazing in awe at the spell, watching it take to form of a roaring dragon head charging at Vetto with a urge to kill.

It's power was massive as the ground before it was tearing up and Vetto gained a look of fear, seeing the attack was scarier than he thought it would be. But he didn't falter, he wouldn't falter to high class trash like this!

"RAH! **BEAR CLAW!** " Vetto shouted as he thrust his right hand forward, halting the water dragon spell with his.

The ground beneath him erupted as Vetto held the dragon back with everything he has, his arm shaking as he was using all of his strength to match the magic force Noelle was firing. Said girl in question was struggling as well but didn't falter as she gave a roar of her own and added more power to her spell, making Vetto struggle to keep his grip on the floor below him.

"RAAAAHHHHH" Vetto screamed as the dragon spell was beginning to overwhelm him, pushing him back as it kept charging forward.

Before he could replant his feet, Vetto soon found himself taken off the ground and into the air as he was now using his limbs to keep the **Sea Dragon's Roa** r from crushing him in it's jaws! The spell soon went wild and flew all over the cave, destroying any rocks in it's path before smashing through the wall, flying outside for the underwater villagers to see. The villagers gasped in shock and awe as the dragon continued to fly through the air until it crashed into the underwater barrier and became absorbed by it.

"Huh! Huh! Huh! Huh!" Noelle gasped in exhaustion as the power of the spell left her drained a bit.

"Damn..." Asta commented as he was amazed that the girl he liked pulled off one hell of a dragon attack, the crush he had on her felt much larger than before.

"Huh! Huh!" Vetto gasped as he rose from the ground, right in front of the hole the dragon made after he was able to dodge the attack. "M-My arm!" he said in shock as he gazed to his right arm, seeing it and a part of his torso destroyed from Noelle's attack.

"Huh! Huh! How's that, beast?" Noelle commented with a smile, proud of herself for the attack she made and actually hit it's target!

"Not bad, kid. You didn't just push past your limits, you shattered them." Yami said with a smile as he watch from Gifso's viewing room.

"Just what kind of people do you have in your squad?" Gifso said in shock as the Black Bulls were even more powerful than their reputation gave them credit for. "How did you get this girl, a sea goddess, on your squad?" he asked as he held his hand together, looking as though he should be praying to Noelle.

'I always guessed her true abilities would show one day but I never thought Noelle would turn out to be an attack type mage all along.' Yami thought as he actually sweat a bit from this realization.

Back in the cave, Vetto had pulled his head to the ceiling and scream in pain, more pain than he has ever felt coming from a human! It was maddening and undescribable, it nearly broke his mental state if he had not remembered his friend, Licht, and his kind words.

 _"Come and join me. Let me take away the despair you feel and help you cast on those who have wronged us, the Clover Kingdom." Licht said as he held his hand out to Vetto. "Let me help you maintain your true self."_

Vetto stopped his screaming and took deep breaths as he remembered a time of long ago, a time before the Eye of the Midnight Sun. Happiness was all around and nothing could ruin it until the humans attacked, slaughtering his people without care and laughing about it! His home, his friends, and loved, killed and burned to the ground, making him the hateful person he is today because of what the humans did!

"I will kill them!" Vetto said as a third eye suddenly opened on his forehead, changing his eye color from blue to a frightening yellow.

He a mighty scream, causing the cave to shake and the air to heat up from his fury filled mana!The puddle of water around him began to boil and evaporate as he slumped forward, taking deep breath before raising his head to show Noelle and Asta his new, madness filled eyes and smile!

"Hahahahaha!" he laughed, causing Noelle and Asta to jump at his gaze.

"What the hell?!" Asta asked as his instincts suddenly flared in danger, even higher than the time when he stared into the face of the crazed slime girl, Sally.

'He's-He's even more deadly than before! I can feel it from here!' Asta thought as Vetto spoke in a strange calm yet chilling tone with a whole new voice.

"I must thank you for summoning me here, human." Vetto(?) suddenly said before his magic flared up, taking a blood red color instead of the beastly green from before.

'That eye, where did it and this magic come from? It's more sinister than anything I've ever felt before.' Noelle thought as Vetto's(?) grimoire took on the same shade of magic.

 **"Mythical Beast Magic! ArgGeNsiFUr!"** Vetto said as his voice became distorted and a strange magic circle or seal appeared on his right side.

Before Asta or Noelle could question it, the arm that Noelle blew off with her attack as regenerating but the sleeve he had was gone.

"His arm? Grew back?" Noelle questioned in shock.

"But **Recover Magic** can't grow back whole limbs, can it?!" Asta shouted in shock as well.

"Noelle! Asta! Get out of there NOW!" Yami shouted to them, causing shock and fear to roll down their spins as it took something BIG to make Yami afraid!

'Run?' Noelle said before gazing around, seeing their downed allies. 'But we can't just leave them.'

"We're not running, sir." Asta said as he limped back over to Noelle, his body still aching from the fight before but not enough to keep him down. "We're not leaving until we put this guy down and protect everyone right here!"

Though her fear still constricted her, Noelle gained a bit of courage back to stand and fight the monster known as Vetto.

"Yeah, we won't back down!" she said as she continuted to point her wand at Vetto.

"I must say, the resolve you two show is admirable for mice, but that shall be your down fall." Vetto said as he put his new right arm forward, magic another magic circle towards Noelle and Asta. "Now Disappear! **Mythical Beast Magic! EYEnfyNoDReEUa!** " he said in more distortion as an unknown beast head come from the magic circle.

The magic beast head roared before firing a stream of purple flames, planning to reduce Asta and Noelle to ash.

 **"Iron Dragon!"** Asta said as he took a deep breah, puffing his cheeks with his magic power.

"I'll help! **Sea Dragon's-** " Noelle said before she gasped, not feeling any magic power. 'My power! The last spell must've drain it!' she thought as Asta gave his lone attack.

 **"Roar!"** Asta shouted as fired a tornado of iron at the flames, hopping to counter them.

His hopes were dashed as his blast only held the flames back for a 3 seconds before it was overwhelmed, and the flames were heading right for him and Noelle. The flames copied the actions of the Sea Dragon's Roar and burst through the cave walls, heading straight for the underwater barrier and was extinguished when they hit the wall.

"Heh heh." Vetto laughed as he lowered his arm, satisfied that his attack appeared to have killed them. "Eh?" or so he thought when he heard something move.

The smoke from his attack cleared to show Asta and Noelle still alive, protected as Asta quickly called his Iron Dragon Wings to protect them. Though the wings were badly scorched and falling apart with Asta looking a bit weak and a little burnt as he took the remainder of the attack so Noelle wouldn't.

"Asta." Noelle said as she was happy and saddened that she had to protect him when he was in such a state.

In Gifso's viewing room, Yami was lauhing with a smile at the common sight of Asta surprising him with his gutsy actions.

"That's our bull!" he said with joy.

"Like I said, we're not leaving until we put you down!" Asta said as he moved the wings back, showing his angry face and slitted eyes. "So get ready, this fight is far from over!"

"Indeed, it isn't over! Not until I've show you two absolute despair! Vetto said as his blood red magic exploded around, spiking towards the ceiling.

Though they were willing to fight, it didn't wash away the worry they felt from whatever will happen in this battle with a man who was no longer a beast but a monster.


End file.
